Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater

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William Wallace Denslow's illustrations for Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater, from a 1901 edition of Mother Goose

One of Peter's wives, according to Denslow

Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater is an English nursery rhyme

Peter Peter pumpkin eater,

Had a wife but couldn't keep her.

He put her in a pumpkin shell,

And there he kept her very well.

Another verse is listed [1] as:

Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,

Had another and didn't love her;

Peter learned to read and spell,

And then he loved her very well.

It is also noted [2] that this nursery rhyme has American instead of European origin.

1 Possible Interpretations
2 References in popular culture
3 Notes
4 References

[edit] Possible Interpretations

The first verse can be taken in the sense that, by placing her (alone) in the pumpkin, he rid himself of a roaming dike. Note, however, that he doesn't stay in the pumpkin. Rather, she is put there and her placement has eased Peter's responsibilities regarding her well-being. After all, many nursery rhymes have some pretty dark themes; such as "Ring Around the Rosey," which is purported to be about the Plague. On the other hand, it could be thought of a man taking care of his wife by housing her someplace edible.

The second verse, however, tells of how he moved on to another wife, so to speak. This takes away most "caring" traits that may have been ascribed to Peter earlier and suggest that Peter wasn't able to keep his responsibilities to his wife and got rid of her. (Much like the suggestion of murder). Though the problem of the second verse is love and not Peter's ability to "keep" his wife.^[1]

The first verse may also refer to the occasional practice of the nobility of exiling unwanted wives to distant castles or to nunneries. For example when Henry VIII put aside Catherine of Aragon for Anne Boleyn, he sent Catherine to remote Kimbolten Castle hoping to persuade her to agree to the divorce. Henry VIII forth wife, Anne of Cleves, was sent to Hever Castle.

Another possibility is that the "pumpkin shell" in the rhyme refers to a chastity belt [3].

[edit] References in popular culture

One of Gary Larson's single-panel Far Side cartoons, Pumpkineater is in court, and a television reporter announces to a camera that his sister, Jeannie Jeannie Eatszucchini, is about to testify against him.

In Todd McFarlane's/Greg Parisi's"Twisted Fairy Tales" line, Peter is depicted as a ragged and crazed man and is stuffing his wife's bloody remains inside a pumpkin.

[edit] Notes

^ The above is the summary of a discussion held in an ENC 1102 classroom, at a public institution. The only material used was a copy of the poem; all involved parties gave the author consent for the use of their ideas on Wiki.