Mrs. Williams, a milliner from Spoon River, speaks as a woman who was gossiped about and blamed for her daughter Dora’s strange disappearance. She sounds defensive but not defeated—dry, sharp, and unapologetic. Her work gave her an eye for beauty, and she turns that into blunt advice: women who steal husbands dress up with powder, trinkets, and fashionable hats, so wives should wear those hats themselves. Hats, she says, can make divorces, but they can also prevent them. Then she asks a more provocative question: if children had been raised by the county and parents were free to change partners, would Spoon River really be any worse? The mood is wry, a little bitter, and challenging, poking at small-town moral judgments while she defends her own life and values.
Mrs. Williams — Summary
I was the milliner Talked about, lied about, Mother of Dora, Whose strange disappearance Was charged to her rearing. My eye quick to beauty Saw much beside ribbons And buckles and feathers And leghorns and felts, To set off sweet faces, And dark hair and gold. One thing I will tell you And one I will ask: The stealers of husbands Wear powder and trinkets, And fashionable hats. Wives, wear them yourselves. Hats may make divorces— They also prevent them. Well now, let me ask you: If all of the children, born here in Spoon River Had been reared by the County, somewhere on a farm; And the fathers and mothers had been given their freedom To live and enjoy, change mates if they wished, Do you think that Spoon River Had been any the worse?