Dans Hiroshima mon amour, la relation
adulterine entre "Elle" et "Lui" est tout autre: immediate, passionnee et pleinement cathartique pour la femme; mais Duras ne qualifie plus la relation d'"adultere," cette fois-ci.
de Gravier (who, along with Clagny, is one of Dinah's trio of spurned local admirers) had recounted a Gothic tale involving a Spanish grandee, his wife, her lover, an
adulterine baby requiring a clandestine delivery, and an indiscreet surgeon.
However the pun on liaison--a chemical bond and a sexual relationship--suggests that the adjective
adulterine, as in the legal expression, rapports adulterins, may also be included in the portmanteau.
Surprisingly, "[t]he confessor's manual told priests that they could absolve a penitent married woman who bore an
adulterine child while cohabiting with her husband" (119).
Between these extremes, she may produce either legitimate or
adulterine children, and the legitimate offspring may be born either before or after her adultery.
The effect of the new law was that all children (even the
adulterine) could hope to inherit equal shares of the estate.