---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I keep coming back to it, over and over…"
description: "\"I keep coming back to it, over and over - adultery and cheating. It's the most interesting problem in the theater. How else do you get Oedipus? That's ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/mike-nichols-6630_adultery_i-keep-coming-back-to-it-over-and-over-a_2353235.png"
---

#  I keep coming back to it, over and over - adultery and…

![“I keep coming back to it, over and over - adultery and cheating. It's the most interesting problem in the theater. How else do you get Oedipus? That's the first cheating in the theater.” quote by Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/mike-nichols-6630_adultery_i-keep-coming-back-to-it-over-and-over-a_2353235.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/mike-nichols-6630_adultery_i-keep-coming-back-to-it-over-and-over-a_2353235.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfd/mike-nichols-6630_adultery_i-keep-coming-back-to-it-over-and-over-a_2353235.png)

> “I keep coming back to it, over and over - adultery and cheating. It's the most interesting problem in the theater. How else do you get Oedipus? That's the first cheating in the theater.”

[Mike Nichols](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-nichols/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

The quote highlights the recurring fascination with betrayal and infidelity as dramatic tension, likening it to the classic Oedipus conflict.

**In simple terms:** Cheating creates compelling drama.

Key Takeaway

Embrace conflict to deepen storytelling.

Themes

drama betrayal conflict theatre psychology

Mood

intrigued critical

Type

analytical theatrical

When to use this quote

- playwriting
- directing
- acting
- script analysis

Key Concepts

Narrative tension classical archetype character motivation

Questions to Reflect On

- How can you subvert cheating tropes?
- When does betrayal lose impact?

A Different Perspective

Overreliance on cheating can become cliché and alienate audiences.

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## Related quotes

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> [Adultery is an image of hell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emanuel-swedenborg/adultery-is-an-image-of-hell/)

[Emanuel Swedenborg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emanuel-swedenborg/)

> [“I was thinking of murder, mutilation and dessert like Ignacia Sandoval’s instructions for delectable empanadas made of minced mother-in-law’s tongue (said to induce peace…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-ramos-o-briant/i-was-thinking-of-murder-mutilation-and-dessert-like-ignacia-sandoval/)

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[Maurice Bowra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maurice-bowra/)

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[Woodrow M. Kroll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-m-kroll/)

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> [L'adulte' re introduit l'esprit dans la lettre quebien souvent le mariage e u" t laisse e morte. Adultery breathes new life into marriages which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/l-adulte-re-introduit-l-esprit-dans-la-lettre-quebien-souvent-le/)

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> [Marriage is honourable, as you say; and if so, wherefore should Cuckoldom be a Discredit, being deriv'd from so honourable a Root?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-congreve/marriage-is-honourable-as-you-say-and-if-so-wherefore-should/)

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> [Once a cheater always remain's a cheater, if you love your partner, why cheat? That dosent makes any sense, that can tell that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brittannia-calder/once-a-cheater-always-remain-s-a-cheater-if-you-love-your-partner-why/)

[Brittannia Calder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brittannia-calder/)

> [“Reality has a way of bursting the bubble of illusion, and an affair is one of the biggest illusions that anyone can experience in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/reality-has-a-way-of-bursting-the-bubble-of-illusion-and-an-affair-is/)

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> [I was growing tired of all the fussing and prevaricating, of the stolen hours and the secret rendez-vous; of the small indignities and broad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vicki-baum/i-was-growing-tired-of-all-the-fussing-and-prevaricating-of-the/)

[Vicki Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-baum/)

## More by Mike Nichols

> [Stand-up comedy is a very hard thing on the spirit. There are people who transcend it, like Jack Benny and Steve Martin, but in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-nichols/stand-up-comedy-is-a-very-hard-thing-on-the-spirit-there-are-people/)

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## More Adultery quotes

> [A hundred years ago Hester Prynne of The Scarlet Letter was given an A for adultery; today she would rate no better than a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-de-vries/a-hundred-years-ago-hester-prynne-of-the-scarlet-letter-was-given-an/)

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[Vicki Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vicki-baum/)

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