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Washington Irving's story, The Wife, is a narrative of love and support. In his essay, Irving pays tribute to the resilience of women in the face of adversity, particularly wives. While many men tend to not think of women as equals, they are complimentary to men, especially in their strength of character. Yet men still feel that they have to protect women from the horrors of the cruel world. Irving states that women are better comforters than men. A married woman is there for her husband, to support him emotionally and to be financially supported by him. Irving likens the relationship between a husband and wife to that of an oak covered by the "graceful foliage" of a vine. He paints a picture of the vine holding the oak tree together, after it has been broken by the forces of nature. He uses this comparison to illustrate how a wife supports her husband. It is the emotional support of a wife that a husband needs to keep his spirits up, "though all abroad is darkness and humiliation." Men get caught up in physical provisions and forget about the emotional ones. They are not generally thought of as being in touch with their emotions. Because m