Original: "Fineman, Mia, The Most Famous Farm Couple in the World: Why American Gothic still fascinates/O., Slate, 8 June 2005 The painting shows a farmer standing beside his spinster daughter (not his wife, as so many parodies and references assume).
Simplified: The painting is a father and daughter (not his wife as many people think) standing beside each other with the father holding a pitchfork in his hand standing in front of a house.