Blog #3

When I first began reading “The Wife,” I thought it was going to incorporate the old stereotype of men being superior to their wives and not caring about their wife’s opinion or feelings. As I continued to read, I was pleased to find that Irving took a different approach to his short story.

He somewhat sets the wife as the core and the base of the marriage because her husband depends on her so much for support. In Irving’s time, as well as in present day, people feel that women should just dote on their husband and obey them. Men and women must be equals in their marriage and communicate with one another on decisions. Even though in Irving’s story the wife is still portrayed as the homemaker and not contributing to the income, she still plays a large role in the family dynamic because her husband depends on her through their difficult time.

In this country we tend to gage happiness or success on how wealthy someone is because it is a value that is very tangible and Irving touches upon that in “The Wife.” Leslie is afraid to tell his wife about his income because he is afraid she will not stay with him or will be unhappy. He himself is unhappy with his lack of wealth. Most people in the United States would assume that just because someone does not have a lot of money it means they are not as happy as someone who is wealthy. However, Irving believes that having a loving family what will stick with you is worthy of happiness and tells his friend that he was richer than before.

Irving’s value also shows that even though we set a high standard on monetary worth in America, we also place a lot of value on having a family and making a life beyond our own to be happy. Irving tells his friend that he could wish him nothing better than to have a family because they can share in your prosperity, but if not they are still there to make you feel better.