Read the epitaphs of Mr. and Mrs. Purkapile from the Spoon River Anthology and answer the question that follows.


Mrs. Purkapile

HE ran away and was gone for a year.

When he came home he told me the silly story

Of being kidnapped by pirates on Lake Michigan

And kept in chains so he could not write me.

I pretended to believe it, though I knew very well

What he was doing, and that he met

The milliner, Mrs. Williams, now and then

When she went to the city to buy goods, as she said.

But a promise is a promise

And marriage is marriage,

And out of respect for my own character

I refused to be drawn into a divorce

By the scheme of a husband who had merely grown tired

Of his marital vow and duty.


Mr. Purkapile

SHE loved me.

Oh! how she loved me I never had a chance to escape

From the day she first saw me.

But then after we were married I thought

She might prove her mortality and let me out,

Or she might divorce me. But few die, none resign.

Then I ran away and was gone a year on a lark.

But she never complained. She said all would be well

That I would return. And I did return.

I told her that while taking a row in a boat

I had been captured near Van Buren Street

By pirates on Lake Michigan,

And kept in chains, so I could not write her.

She cried and kissed me, and said it was cruel,

Outrageous, inhuman! I then concluded our marriage

Was a divine dispensation

And could not be dissolved,

Except by death.

I was right.


Which best describes Mr. Purkapile's attitude toward his wife?


Maddened—he wanted a divorce, and she would not agree to it.


Tender—he was glad to be greeted by her kisses upon his return.


Controlling—he expected her to wait for him while he was gone.


Dedicated—he vowed to survive his ordeal and return to her.