It’s hard not to shed a tear when Emma Thompson’s character in Love Actually begins to suspect her husband’s extra-marital affair. It’s a heart-wrenching scene that taps into every adulterous cliché: an older man seduced by a younger woman at work while his long-suffering wife is at home making papier-mâché lobster heads for the kids. And Joni Mitchell is playing in the background.

Had this happened in the UK before the 1857 Matrimonial Causes Act, it would have been considered a crime. In some places across the globe, it still would – punishable by death, even. But even without such extreme measures, infidelity seems to be the subject of widespread, almost universal, disapproval. Traditionally, it’s considered a catastrophic event that represents the greatest betrayal, the word ‘adultery’ itself deriving from the Latin for corruption.

But traditions can change. Now, divorce is not only widely accepted but considered likely (around 50% likely, with a near 10% increase in UK divorces in 2021 compared to 2020) and consensual non-monogamy is on the rise. Is it possible that our understanding of cheating is shifting towards something more relaxed?