Pressures of Society
...children, cooking meals for their families and being inferior to men. It was very rare for women to work in this era. The woman is constantly reminded of her perfect sister-in-law Jennie, who is portrayed as being the ideal woman. “She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession” (p. 144). The woman’s desire to write is frowned upon by her family and her husband leads her to believe it may actually make her condition worse before it helps her. John wishes she would give it a rest and longs for her to be the typical housewife. It is revealed that she does not take John’s advice, but instead continues on her journaling in hopes to pass the time and relieve her stress. The narrator is prohibited to socialize with anyone while her husband assures her that she will be able to interact with friends and family again once she improves. It appears that John is ashamed of his wife’s disorder as he keeps her isolated until he feels she is well again. The woman is perceived as being subservient to her husband, as he treats her like a child. He refers to her as, “a blessed little goose” (p. 143) and talks down to her, leaving no room for her to have her own opinion on the matter. The passive/aggressive relationship that the two share is quite common in the Victorian era. The woman gives the impression that her inferiority and role in the traditional society begins to drive her crazy, she becomes angry with her husband and her insanity seems to increase near the end of their stay at the estate. John has leased a summer home for three months, planning to return to their urban home once his wife has recovered. The husband’s intentions appear to be focused on recovering his wife’s health, although the woman feels uncomfortable with their stay. “There is something strange about the house - I can feel it” (p. 141). She has a peculiar feeling about the house and suggests that the house is similar to a “haunted house” (p. 140). The narrator explains that the house has been empty for many years due to legal trouble and is uneasy about the stay. Nevertheless, John assures his wife that this is merely for her own good, and she will benefit from the escape. The woman is placed in a room located upstairs in the mansion, which she is told was once a nursery. She is kept in the dark about the information of the mansion, although she is told numerous times her room was once a nursery, her description of the house leads us to believe she is being lied to. She explains the nature of the room; it is complete with bars on the windows, rings on the walls, a gate at the top of the stairs, and repulsive yellow wallpaper surrounding the room. The wallpaper is described as being torn in many places, “great patches all around the head of my bed, about as far as I can reach” (p. 141). The floor is ragged and the walls have holes in them. The house seems to resemble an insane asylum quite strongly. It is unlikely that children would be capable of creating such a catastrophe in the room. The detailed descriptions of the room lead readers to believe it was once a hospital for the mentally ill. The bars on the windows ensure patients cannot escape, the bed is nailed down to the floor and it is the only piece of furniture in the room. The rings on the walls may have been used to restrain patients when out of control, and the shredding of the wallpaper implies clawing in the attempt to escape. The depiction of the grounds at the mansion also support this idea. The manor is described as being “well back from the road…there are hedges and walls and gates that lock” (p. 140). It is set back from the road in the country and the hedges and gates conceal the view of the estate from the public. There are extra houses on the property, which the woman believes are for the gardeners, although these may be for the medical staff of the hospital along with spare storage space. John’s wife is disgusted by the wallpaper at first, but slowly becomes capti...