Social Expectations For Women

“Wendy, Waiting” is told from the point of view of a woman locked in a mid-century patriarchal society. From the beginning, it’s clear that returning to the ordinary human world has put her at the mercy of this society and its limitations. The speaker reflects that it was “Not easy” (Line 1) returning from a place of limitless freedom to a place of social (and literal) constraint; she was forced to live out her life in one single house, wearing constricting fashions and forced into facetious situations. For an entire decade the speaker does her best to exist outside these conventions, yet her efforts lead to the threat of “innuendos” (Line 9) — an enormous threat to a respectable family of a high social standing.

There is a suggestion of backlash from loved ones, or of consequences directed at loved ones which push the speaker...