Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver: Behind The Split

Yahoo! News:

It was a shock to the outside world Monday night when Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced their separation after 34 years together, 25 of them as husband and wife.

Marriages are, by definition, fraught with tensions and complications--and theirs was no different. Never mind that they were California's golden couple: he an Austrian body builder turned American movie star, she a glamorous member of the Kennedy clan. They had been through a lot together--the untimely deaths of various Kennedy cousins in terrible accidents and a drug overdose, his open-heart surgery to replace a defective aortic valve, the death of his mother, the death of her mother, the constant intrusion of the tabloids and paparazzi, and the natural friction of two high-powered careers.

Read the whole story: Yahoo! News

Comments

[Sheilah Blanco]

05:49 PM on 05/11/2011

Might be hormonal insanity brought on by mutual menopause. Together this long, they're no longer suitable for anyone else. But if they're completely miserable, today's thinking is they'd do better apart. A woman celebrating her 60th anniversary told me the most important thing in a marriage is forgiveness. "Always remember; Nobody's perfect. Once you split up, things are done and said that are irreparable and you never can 'go back'. Just skip the foolishness and stay together, cause you ain't gonna do no better." I think society as a whole misses the wisdom of previous generations.

[hiltonhead]

06:36 PM on 05/11/2011

i completely agree... remaining calm and forgiveness go a long way... also helps to have endless funds, i like the line about society as a whole misses the wisdom of previous generations..

[biskitdaddy]

03:54 PM on 05/11/2011

You do not divorce AHHHNUND.....AHHHNULD divorces you!

[ViviMarr Williams]

09:42 AM on 05/11/2011

It takes courage to admit that a relationship is not working and to recognize that is time to move on. To stay in a passionless and loveless marriage because of social status, financial security, fear of being alone or fear of being labeled 'divorced', will only lead to misery.
Ending a relationship does not make you a bad person. Ignore what other people think or say about you, they do not live your life. There is love after this.

[DennyCrane]

08:43 AM on 05/11/2011

You can't help but wonder if she stuck by him because of his political ambitions. If he had been successful as governor, I'm sure he or his supporters would've pushed to have the Constitution changed so that he could run for President. But now that his political career is over, perhaps she realized there's no point in sticking by him. I'm not saying she's an opportunist who was only interested in riding his coat tails. I'm saying that she probably wanted out a long time ago, but decided to be the good wife just like Hillary Clinton, Silda Spitzer, etc. Her leaving him won't hurt his movie career and now we know why he's going back to movies. What better way to recoup the money lost in a divorce than to make more bad movies?

[thepoliticalcat]

10:37 PM on 05/10/2011

It was a shock to no one. People have been speculating on when the split would take place ever since Shriver publicly distanced herself from her husband on one memorable occasion (2002? 2004?). Everybody knew they were staying together for the kids and his career. Even he joked about sleeping on the couch.

[Please-Play-Fair]

05:23 PM on 05/10/2011

Their marriages overcame the death of his mother and her mother.  Yes, because old people die ... and no other family has ever endured that.  Lame.

[livesimply]

10:07 AM on 05/11/2011

Of course many couples go through that together, but there are many couple who don't stay together long enough to go through those things together. People tend to grow closer together or farther apart in times like those.

[Avatar Jack]

05:07 PM on 05/10/2011

With the demise of his political career (some would argue at his own hands), one has to wonder whether Ms Shriver exactly finds her union with Mr Schwarzenegger completely compelling, and on the same token one has to wonder what’s on Mr Schwarzenegger’s mind now he is set to return making Hollywood movies? Perhaps just a natural flow of events, or the demise of a strategic relationship that no longer bore any fruit.

http://scallywagandvagabond.com/2011/05/arnold-schwarzenegger-and-maria-shriver-call-it-quits-after-25-years/