Which wedding has the happier couple?
In "The $30,000 Bequest," Twain introduces the concept of "marrying up" with the Foster family. Both Aleck and Sally become obsessed with their two daughters marrying the best quality, both financially and socially, in order to propel the family into the highest society possible. As they grow fictitiously wealthy, their notion of who is the best fit constantly changes.
At first, Gwendolen and Clytemnestra, the two daughters, are expected to marry their family friends Adelbert and Hosannah, two journeymen right out of apprenticeship. I found it so interesting how important it was to the parents for their daughters not to settle for someone who wasn't financially thier equivalent or better. With today's divorce rates, I feel like parents are instead hoping for their children to find real love - someone who will make them happy. At the same time, when I was looking into the idea of "marrying up", I was shocked to see how much information was out their on the subject. My google search alone came up with over a million results. One informed me that hypergamy was the true term for "act of seeking a spouse of higher socioeconomic status." Another was titled "How to Marry Up" - this eHow.com article was very detailed and even had a Tips & Warnings section that said "When in doubt, keep your mouth shut."
Even after doing a little research on the pathetic notion of "hypergamy" it is hard to look at these two wedding photos and not yearn to be Princess Diana. Her wealth, beauty (and ROYALTY) are so appealing, yet why do I want her life when I know the tragic end? Twain depicts moral decay in connection to wealth blatantly in this short story. His characters become obsessive, seclusive, and exclusive. Aleck is never described again as "Happy in her husband, happy in her children, and the husband and the children were happy in her" (1). I think that Twain's decision to let them restart at the end of the story is very interesting, especially because we do not know if they fall back into the same greedy ways.
There is no doubt that financial security brings happiness, but when is the point when it leads to destruction? How much money does a family need to earn before it is ruined?
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