William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode 2

Somewhere during my youth, I started hearing about "power couples", and the media told us how liberating it was to finally see marriage being employed in the service of professional advancement. Now while it is indeed wonderful when husband and wife support one another in their respective careers, I fear that we are making a tragic mistake if matrimony is judged by standards so mercenary. 

Though I am regularly derided for saying such things, any marriage is doomed to failure if it is not built upon unconditional love, and no amount of money, or prestige, or good looks can ever compensate for such an absence. Perhaps you are smiling, thinking that I only say so because I am not rich, or famous, or handsome, but that might just make me all the more qualified to know what really counts. 

I actually suspect I was once being groomed to become a part of a power couple, a role for which I am completely unsuited, which explains why I was eventually discarded. For all the pain, I should be grateful this occurred before I ended up in the middle of a horrid scene like this one. 

The Viscount and Viscountess now have absolutely nothing to say to each other, caught up in their respective diversions. I have sadly noticed this in so many couples driven solely by their appetites and their ambitions, unable to carry on an intimate conversation once they've finished playing their public roles. It would seem there have always been yuppies in this world. 

The husband looks terribly tired and bored, as the dog has discovered a woman's nightcap in his pocket. His sword lies on the floor, broken, which may be telling us something about the quality of his recent performance on the town. 

The wife smirks and stretches suggestively, having apparently spent the night playing cards—but with whom? It had to be pointed out to me that she may be using a pocket mirror to signal someone out of our view. Good manners keep me from speculating about the stain on her skirt. 

A servant yawns in the background, while another raises his eyes to heaven in disapproval. The one receipt stands in contrast to the stack of bills, indicating that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. 

The clock reads 12:20. Whether it is the middle of the day or the middle of the night, the disordered state of the household reveals what we need to know about the disordered state of their souls. 

William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode II: The Tête à Tête (painting, 1743) 

William Hogarth, Marriage A-la-Mode II: The Tête à Tête (engraving, 1745)