The Plain Man and His Wife

A series of essays examines ordinary married life and the contemporary middle-class man's habits and anxieties, contrasting two temperaments—one indulgent, one prudent—to explore choices about pleasure, responsibility, and parental authority. It traces daily routines and social rituals, considers the costs of enjoyment and the calculations of financial risk, and reflects on ambition and domestic expectations. Through anecdote and character sketch the writer shows how habit, vanity, and prudence shape marriages and household roles, portraying tensions between generosity and restraint, personal desire and duty, and the ways families adapt to shifting tastes and economic pressures.