The Young Housewife By William Carlos Williams

This poem by William Carlos Williams caught my eye because I understood the meaning of the poem right away. Williams describes a young housewife that has lost her soul or sense of freedom. William expresses the loss of freedom with the lines:

                        At ten AM the young housewife

                        Moves about in negligee behind

                        The wooden walls of her husband’s house. (1-3)

By stating a specific time of when the housewife moves about the house, it gives the sense that the housewife lacks spontaneity and is confined to a schedule everyday. The housewife also seems like she is not part of her home but rather just another person living along with her husband in his house. The fact that she also walks around her “husband’s house” in a negligee gives the impression that she is some kind of object rather than a human being. These three opening lines give great evidence to the theme of loss of freedom.