Benson

Benson used to be Delia’s husband until he passed away. Although Benson is a last name, Delia’s husband Benson is never named by his surname. Due to his blue eyes and the fact that he always wore gardenia in his coat, Delia decided to marry him; and they got married when Delia was just nineteen. Benson is described as weak leading to the fact that he could never please his wife making her feel disappointed about their marriage as a consequence. Moreover, Benson could not distinguish between right and wrong. He had a “[…] primitive perception to recognize that some actions were permissible and others were not; […]”. (White 5) Although he committed some permissible actions, he denied having done them when he found out that Delia disapproved on them. As a consequence, Delia compared him to a poodle, who liked to sleep on a white rug, which Delia did not like. Delia forbad the dog to sleep on it; however, as soon as Delia had her back turned to the dog it went right back onto it. He husband seemed to have done the same things again; once Delia turned her back to Benson, he did the same permissible action again. Furthermore, Delia compares her deceased husband to valueless things she bought when she was younger. Although Delia did not approve on many of her husband’s habits, she thinks that she once loved him. However, when Benson and his wife were invited to Laurence Corbett’s dinner arrangements, Delia could not restrain herself from turning her back to her husband and falling in love with Laurence Corbett, but Benson never found out about his wife’s feelings for another man. (White 4-6)