Ambiguity in the Short Fiction of William Carlos Williams

Abstract Although ambiguity and an interest in the contemporary modern art scene have long been recognized as playing major roles in the poetry of William Carlos Williams, the same influences have not been sufficiently appreciated in his short fiction. This article begins with a brief review of the subject and definition of ambiguity and then analyzes its presence in The Farmers’ Daughters, Williams’s 1961 collection of short stories. The article closes with some thoughts on possible causes of his conflicted writing and resulting ambiguity, in both poetry and prose, and briefly discusses the ethical criticism of the ambiguous sexual (in)appropriateness of the physician-female patient relationship in these stories.