Sherwood Anderson's "The Other Woman," like certain other short fictions of the early twentieth century, may appear quite simple, even superficial, to twentyfirst century readers. But the complexity and resonant quality of this anecdotal confession resulting from an adulterous affair may become more manifest when it is considered within its cultural and temporal context. Given this wider perspective, the story's fidelity to the vagaries of human nature, when the central figure is held back by an internal force (inhibition) as well as by an external force (editorial censorship or, at the least, prudery), makes it all the more appealing and meaningful to the thoughtful reader of this later time. In typical Anderson fashion, the soliloquizing central figure is inquiring into the nature of his own mental world as well as the greater world of humankind: what is going on here, and how can such things happen...