Reflections on "The Wife"

Washington Irving’s short story “The Wife” is a sentimental tale on the power of love and a celebration of the sacred union between husband and wife. Comparing women to vines that “caress” and “cling” to the sturdy oak, which represents man, Irving presents an image of “the softer sex” as not only the “dependant and ornament of man,” but “his stay and solace when [he] is smitten with calamity, winding herself into the rugged recesses of his nature, tenderly supporting the drooping head, and binding up the broken heart” (526). I absolutely loved this imagery! Although I myself am not married, I have witnessed married couples compensate for each others weaknesses by capitalizing on the strengths that are inherent in their nature. Here we see women emerge as comforters and supporters of their husbands in the midst of adversity. Deeply embedded in her nature, sympathy is one of women’s highest virtues: “There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity...” (528). Although women have proved to be far more than mere dependants in modern relationships, tenderness is deeply woven in the fabric of the female character; I believe we were divinely designed to be creatures of nurture, or as Irving so eloquently described, “ministering angel[s]” (528). Leslie’s wife is the epitome of the “ministering angel” (528). She is loving, tender, and accepting of her husband’s present economic misfortune. Her loyalty fosters a prosperity that far outweighs material wealth. Irving is therefore advocating the proverb “money can’t buy happiness” and places values of loyalty and perseverance above economic status.