"The Young Housewife"

Out of all of William's pieces that we read, "The Young Housewife" was by far my favorite. William's writing style, with a hint of mystery and scandal, drew me in and captured my attention all while leaving plenty of room for me to form my own conclusions about various situations. Peter Baker points out exactly what I am referring to in his analytical piece about "The Young Housewife." He states, "One must do a sort of double-take to figure out how the speaker could know this if she is behind the walls of a house." We see the passing doctor detailing seductive features about the young housewife, specifically her attire. As the reader, we learn that the young women is adorned in a sheer negligee; most certainly an object of sensuality.
We also witness the doctor approaching her as almost untouchable. He references her with such regard that we are initially under the impression that he feels insignificant next to her and that she is just a mere wish that he could never obtain. However, as we read farther, I stumbled upon the idea that he had already had her. He uses such detail and describes such perfect images, I came to believe that he had first hand knowledge of these things, and that he hadn't just merely observed them from behind "wood walls. Barry Ahearn accredits this situation by stating, "The encounter between the passing doctor and the young housewife is scrupulously polite and legitimate. Yet the poem hints at potential sexual contact." After completing the piece, I eventually concluded that his "scrupulously polite" descriptions were almost a game, or a fantasy, of the doctor's. I believe that he had certainly seen the housewife, and the negligee, up close.