"The Young Housewife" is a poem by William Carlos Williams that deals with many issues. One of the main issues that this poem deals with is the conflict between male power and female powerlessness. Although at first glance the poem may not seem to be have this theme in it but Williams's work is filled with multi meanings. It all determines how one would interpret the poem, from the literal meanings to the underlying meanings and symbolism.

In the first stanza Williams describes the woman as moving "...behind the wooden walls of her husband's house"(2-3). This can be taken in a couple of different ways. First of all you could look at it literally and picture the girl in the house moving about do various thing

s. You could also look at it in the way that the woman is being controlled by her husband. Williams refers to her moving about behind her husband's walls. This signifies that the male is the person with all the power and money. He owns the house and the woman is being let to live in it.

All of these references make me feel that that the woman in the story was really powerless and had no control in her life. I felt that she was not only being controlled by her husband, but because she was made out to be a prostitute she was in the control of every man that she was with.

In the final stanza Williams writes "The noiseless wheels of my car rush with a crackling sound over the dried leaves..."(10-12). I took this as meaning that he used the girl and didn't care what she felt and what ha

Some common words found in the essay are:
Hear Williams, Carlos Williams, Housewife Housewife, Male Power, stanza williams, male power, female powerlessness, controlled husband, williams refers,
Approximate Word count = 539
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)