An “American couple” is very beautifully portrayed in the painting. The background of their home is a very striking factor in the painting. The man is holding a pitchfork with a stern look on his face. The woman in the painting is very reluctant to make any eye contact whatsoever.
The painting can be perceived in more than one way. Firstly it may involve male chauvinism; the woman in the painting seems to be the wife of the man. She is reluctant to make any eye contact and seems disgusted by her expressions in the painting. The same goes to show that she is being dominated by her husband and has very little choice of her own. The background shows their house and the painter has intentionally shown the characters outside the house and the same suggests major differences between the characters. The men as well as the woman in the painting are anything but happy; this again outlines the fact that there are major differences that need to be sorted out among the two.
The second way of interpreting the painting is completely different from the first. I reckon that the woman in the painting is the daughter of the man and both of them are unhappy because as a father, he should have ensured that she should have been married to a good gentleman long back but that is not quite the case and the same is the reason for their unhappiness. These are two ways of interpreting this painting.