The "American Dream" Gone Awry

The “American Dream” is an image of economic success, blissful family life, abundant opportunities, and opulent lifestyle -- but what happens when that image is obstructed? “Those disasters which break down the spirit of a man...while treading the prosperous paths of life...[those men] who behold a female who can be the comforter and supporter of her husband under misfortune” (Irving, 526). Considering the grave recession the United States is weighted under, the message Washington Irving sends in his work “The Wife” is one that connects to the modern day family. Yet comparing his plot to the realistic situations families find themselves in today, “The Wife” could actually be a work to draw inspiration from. In times of crisis, families should come together instead of break apart and love unconditionally rather than fight out of emotions. In this story, a man is afraid to tell his wife that he has been “reduced to almost penury” by an economic crisis. His good friend advises him to tell his wife, but the husband is afraid she cannot bear the poverty when she has been growing up with “all the refinements of opulence.” Following his friends advice, he tells his wife about his economic troubles, and instead of breaking the marriage, she responded “like an angel...she threw her arms around my neck, and asked if this was all that had lately made me unhappy.” In the end, the husband “has never experienced a moment of such unutterable felicity” when he learns that his wife loves him despite his economic situation in “a home destitute of everything elegant...exhausted and spiritless over a prospect of future poverty.” Irving describes a life that is not male-dominated, a life in which the union of marriage is strong and can withstand all obstacles, a life that can make many twists and turns but is nevertheless satisfying because the United States offers life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.