To see and think about this movie, you have to consider "The Women" in the same context. Husband has affair. Wife finds out and cannot stand the thought. Although there is no wife's affair in The Women, that is one difference. The married couple get divorced. Others get married. Robert Montgomery's character turns out to be a cowardly heal. The second difference is that Shearer's character in this goes out and parties hard, while in The Women, she is dating another (unseen) man who wants to marry her. But in the end, they both turn out about the same way. With the divorced couple back together, but not yet officially reconciled or remarried.
The ending actually reverses the idea of the movie that women should treat marriage and men the same way unfaithful husbands treat wives.
The ending actually reverses the idea of the movie that women should treat marriage and men the same way unfaithful husbands treat wives.