I also have been known to miss the obvious, but have you considered that perhaps this poor sad sack has met that common monster?
The self-absorbed, manipulative, controlling, insecure witch from hell?
There is a remarkable number of them out there. No, I don't speak from personal experience, but I got eyes.
After are lifetime of watching the marriages of friends, family and acquaintances fail--there are some common follies.
There are many witches from hell out there. But the worst marriages I have seen, the ones to fall apart the quickest--were the ones where the man married a waistline. For every witch, there's a man who must marry that witch's waistline. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I've been assured by many men that this is most natural and desireable.
These are the guys who assure me that "gals don't do for nice guys." What they mean is that they can't see the nice gals who don't have the right physical attributes, but the witches who have the right ones won't give them the attention a nice guy deserves.
Frankly, the golddigging woman seems to have better sense than the guy who only wants a hip-to-waist ratio...