The title of the short story “Sweat” signifies Delia’s suffering at the hands of her abusive husband, Sykes. Delia is a wash-woman who toils to keep her household afloat on her meager income. Sykes, on the other hand, is a lazy philanderer who despises his wife and is non-appreciative of her great effort in raising the family single-handedly. It seems like Sykes derives great pleasure in tormenting Delia; he does the most outlandish things to her, perhaps to break her down psychologically. It seems like he thrives off Delia’s tears. For instance, he tramples her whitest pile of laundry and threatens to throw it out of the house, constantly harasses and beats her up, openly keeps a mistress in town, and even brings home a rattlesnake in a soapbox to torment her.

Delia’s pain can be understood from what she tells Sykes during one of their arguments:

Looka heah, Sykes, you dun gone too fur. Ah been married to you fur fifteen years, and Ah been takin’ in washin’ for fifteen years. Sweat sweat sweat! Work and sweat, cry and sweat, pray and sweat!

Clearly, what Delia is trying to say is that all her married life, she has done little else than work, cry, and pray: work to take care of herself and her good-for-nothing husband, cry at all the pain and suffering he causes her, and pray that he might change his bad ways.