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Editorial
March 8, 1908
Laredo Weekly Times
Laredo, Webb County, Texas
What is this article about?
The editorial depicts the tragic fate of American wives who devote their youth and labors to enabling their husbands' success, only to be overshadowed and potentially abandoned as the husbands prosper, fearing loss of their dreamed home paradise. By Orison Swett Marden in Success Magazine.
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Full Text
The Wife In The Shadow
One of the most pathetic spectacles in American life is that of the faded outgrown wife standing helpless in the shadow of her husband's prosperity and power, having sacrificed her youth, beauty, and ambition—nearly everything that the feminine mind holds dear—to enable an indifferent, selfish, brutish husband to get a start in the world.
It does not matter that she burned up much of her attractiveness over the cooking stove; that she lost more of it at the washtub, and in scrubbing and cleaning, and in rearing and caring for their children during the slavery of her early married life, in her unselfish effort to help him get on in the world. It does not matter how much she suffered during those terrible years of poverty and privation; just as soon as the selfish husband begins to get prosperous, finds that he is getting on in the world, feels his power, he often begins to be ashamed of the woman who has sacrificed everything to make his success possible.
It does not matter that the woman sacrificed her own opportunity for a career, that she gave up her most cherished ambitions in order to make a ladder for her husband to ascend by. When he has once gotten to the top, like a wily, diplomatic politician, he often kicks the ladder down. He wants to make a show in the world; he thinks only of himself. His poor, faded, worn-out wife, standing in his shadow, is not attractive enough for him now that he has gotten up in the world.
Many American wives look with horror upon the increasing fortunes of their husbands which their sacrifices have helped to accumulate, simply because they fear that their stooped forms, gray hairs, calloused hands, and the loss of the comeliness which slipped from them while they were helping their husbands to get a start, are likely to deprive them of the very paradise of home and comforts which they have dreamed of from their wedding day. They know that their hard work and sacrifices and long hours and sufferings in bringing up a family are likely to ruin their prospects and that they may even drive them out of the Eden of their dreams.—Orison Swett Marden, in "Success Magazine."
One of the most pathetic spectacles in American life is that of the faded outgrown wife standing helpless in the shadow of her husband's prosperity and power, having sacrificed her youth, beauty, and ambition—nearly everything that the feminine mind holds dear—to enable an indifferent, selfish, brutish husband to get a start in the world.
It does not matter that she burned up much of her attractiveness over the cooking stove; that she lost more of it at the washtub, and in scrubbing and cleaning, and in rearing and caring for their children during the slavery of her early married life, in her unselfish effort to help him get on in the world. It does not matter how much she suffered during those terrible years of poverty and privation; just as soon as the selfish husband begins to get prosperous, finds that he is getting on in the world, feels his power, he often begins to be ashamed of the woman who has sacrificed everything to make his success possible.
It does not matter that the woman sacrificed her own opportunity for a career, that she gave up her most cherished ambitions in order to make a ladder for her husband to ascend by. When he has once gotten to the top, like a wily, diplomatic politician, he often kicks the ladder down. He wants to make a show in the world; he thinks only of himself. His poor, faded, worn-out wife, standing in his shadow, is not attractive enough for him now that he has gotten up in the world.
Many American wives look with horror upon the increasing fortunes of their husbands which their sacrifices have helped to accumulate, simply because they fear that their stooped forms, gray hairs, calloused hands, and the loss of the comeliness which slipped from them while they were helping their husbands to get a start, are likely to deprive them of the very paradise of home and comforts which they have dreamed of from their wedding day. They know that their hard work and sacrifices and long hours and sufferings in bringing up a family are likely to ruin their prospects and that they may even drive them out of the Eden of their dreams.—Orison Swett Marden, in "Success Magazine."
What sub-type of article is it?
Feminism
Social Reform
What keywords are associated?
Wives Sacrifices
Marital Inequality
Gender Roles
Husband Prosperity
Women's Ambitions
What entities or persons were involved?
Orison Swett Marden
Success Magazine
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Plight Of Wives Sacrificed For Husbands' Success
Stance / Tone
Sympathetic To Wives, Critical Of Selfish Husbands
Key Figures
Orison Swett Marden
Success Magazine
Key Arguments
Wives Sacrifice Youth, Beauty, And Ambition To Help Husbands Succeed
Husbands Become Ashamed Of Faded Wives Once Prosperous
Wives Fear Losing Home Comforts Due To Physical Toll Of Sacrifices
Husbands Discard Wives Like Kicked Ladders After Achieving Success