you make an interesting case for his destruction of his own desires for the

housewife. at times you need to be more explicit in your explanations--the point

is not as obvious to the reader as it is to you. at other points stay grounded in the

text to support your claim

“The Young Housewife” Explication

“The Young Housewife” by William Carlos Williams stars two main characters: the

driver and the young housewife. Despite the appearance of the housewife, the poem is not

directed at the housewife, but the driver himself. Using first-person point-of-view, the speaker

attempts to crush his desire for the housewife.

The title is simple, but effective. “The Young Housewife” not only sheds light on her as a

character, but also makes readers characterize her by her occupation. The author does not give

her a name, so her role as a young housewife is the only insight the readers have of her identity.

The intentional attachment of the word “young” also implies her attractiveness to the speaker due

to the common association between youth and beauty.

The first stanza serves as portrayal of the loneliness of both the speaker and the

housewife. In the second line, it says that the housewife moved about in negligee, which is a

light dressing gown. By ten in the morning, she is not properly dressed because she has nowhere

to go. In the third line, the author writes “her husband’s home,” depicting the ownership the

husband has over the house, and presumably over the wife as well. In the fourth line, the author

emphasizes the speaker’s own aloneness by clarifying how he is the only person in his car.
Giving attention to the speaker’s and housewife’s solitude highlights the yearning the speaker

has for the housewife. Similar to movies, the speaker sets up a scene that stars two lonely

individuals almost destined to cross paths, but instead of fate, it is in the hands of the speaker and

his car.

The second stanza recycles the theme of longing, however, it is unrequited. The speaker

seems to watch the housewife because he says “then again she comes to the curb / to call the ice-

man, fish-man, and stands” (5-6). The keywords “then again” suggest that the speaker has

noticed that she comes to the curb often, and hints that he keeps his eye on her or he drives past

her house regularly. He speaks about her demeanor, calling her “shy” and “uncorseted” (7).

Throughout the second stanza, there is no interaction between the speaker and the housewife.

She does not seem to notice him or his car, even though it is implied that he has driven around

her house often enough to pick up her habits. She is unaware of his general existence because she

calls the ice-man and fish-man, but not the speaker (driver-man) (6), which makes reciprocation

difficult.

He then compares her to a fallen leaf (9), expressing and reiterating a theme of a

dominance. Throughout the poem, the speaker describes the housewife as submissive; in the first

stanza, he refers to her home as “her husband’s house” (3). In the second stanza, his description

of her caters to an image of a timid, weak young girl, which seems to add to her attractiveness to

the speaker and to the uncomfortable, creepy undertones of the poem. Because the tone reiterates

how the speaker finds her attractive, it contributes to his longing for her. The speaker gives

unsolicited attention to a housewife that is unaware of his lingering presence.

The only indication of an interaction between the two characters lies in the third stanza

when the speaker consciously decides to not act upon his thirst for her. The first line mentions
the noiselessness of the speaker’s car, which clarifies how he would be able to admire the

housewife without any prior communication. In the second and third line, his car runs over dried

leaves, creating a crackling noise while he bows and smiles. It is no coincidence that the speaker

compares the housewife with a fallen leaf in the second stanza and the author places dried leaves

in the third stanza, making them nearly interchangeable. By substitution, the speaker technically

runs over the housewife. The contrast between the noiselessness of the speaker’s car,

representing the speaker’s unrequited attraction to her, and the crackling noise of the leaf

represents the speaker metaphorically crushing his desire to be with the housewife. If he makes

noise with his car, he can no longer silently watch her. Instead, he has drawn attention to himself,

which eliminates the option to watch the housewife without her noticing. His next actions also

speak to this concept. The bow and smile are the only gestures at an interaction between the two

characters, but the speaker passes her while executing these actions. The author specifically uses

the word “pass,” showing instead of stopping. Stopping would show a potential for more; if he

had stopped, the speaker and the housewife could have a conversation, however, he passes her.

This does not allow him to instigate more, but instead pushes him to move on both physically

and metaphorically because he (literally) passed up the opportunity for more.

Yet, up to the last line, the poem maintains the same eerie undertones. The contrast

between his noiseless wheels and the crackling sound of the leaves while the speaker smiles sets

up an uncomfortable visual. The only time his car makes a noise is when it is destroying

something––the leaves, in this case––and during this time, he smiles. Most villains are portrayed

the same way in movies: finding pleasure in destruction. Though he may be crushing his appetite

for her, the speaker still exudes a slightly disturbing aura.