The Comedy Duo of Husband and Wife

One final comdic feature that is still very evident today is the duo of husband and wife. This is a concept which has been visible in American sitcom television since Jackie Gleason and Audrey Meadows began to grace the screens in 1955 in The Honeymooners and has continued well into today. Television series such as Mike and Molly, Everybody Loves Raymond, and King of Queens all revolve around a male and female couple whose playful, yet sometimes aggressive banter, is the comedic center of the series. As can be seen in the chapbooks, this is a concept that is not new to 21st century comedy as the comedic situations between husband and wife were very well documented in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Woodcut on title-page portraying a young man wearing hat. He is standing in a field sharpening a scythe

In The Comical Sayings of Paddy From Cork , the hero, Teague,is explaining to Tom the relationship between himself and his wife. According to Teague his wife was a very spiteful woman and when she came down with a bad fever she refused to seek medical attention and instead "went away and died out of spite".  Now he had to look after the two children that she left motherless.

Woodcut on the title page portrays a dark-haired woman in a black dress indoors standing next to a fireplace handing a book to a dark-haired child in a white dress.

In a story from The Anecdote-Book a man is working on a steam ship when a boiler explodes right near him. When asked later if he was seriously hurt, the man replies that his wife was responsible for causing him much more distress then "mere steam" ever could. 

Later on in this chapbook the reader is informed that experiments have taken place in Philadelphia that have determined a woman is able to move her tongue 1922 times per minute. Upon hearing this news the article recommends that the reader think about that fact "and weep".

The Anecdote-Book offers another great example of the comedic situations that revolve around man and wife. In this particular instance a man's wife had passed away after falling off his horse and breaking her neck. The man's neighbour approaches him and asks if he could buy the horse to give to his wife, implying that he wants her to fall and perish as well. The man replies that he cannot do that because he intends to marry again and, presumably, have the same thing occur.

A story towards the end of The Anecdote-Book describes a situation in which a woman is speaking to her friend’s husband. It appears that prior to being married the woman’s friend was very quiet, modest, and submissive. She comments to the friend’s husband that since they had been married she has become much freer with her tongue. The husband responds in despair agreeing that yes, she did used to be rather quiet, but it has been "very long since" then.

Illustration on title-page of a young girl standing in a drawing room gesturing towards book on a table.

In a short piece from The Scrap-Book an older bachelor is counselling a young male who is inquiring about taking a wife. The old bachelor recommends the young man never take a wife until he has a house, as well as a fire, to put her in.

 

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