Question

Read the excerpt from "The Lady Maid's Bell." But that wasn’t the only queer thing in the house. The very next day I found out that Mrs. Brympton had no nurse; and then I asked Agnes about the woman I had seen in the passage the afternoon before. Agnes said she had seen no one, and I saw that she thought I was dreaming. To be sure, it was dusk when we went down the passage, and she had excused herself for not bringing a light; but I had seen the woman plain enough to know her again if we should meet. I decided that she must have been a friend of the cook’s, or of one of the other women servants: perhaps she had come down from town for a night’s visit, and the servants wanted it kept secret. Some ladies are very stiff about having their servants’ friends in the house overnight. At any rate, I made up my mind to ask no more questions. Which statement describes a gothic element in this excerpt that reflects a social attitude of Wharton’s time?

Answer 1

Answer:

The narrator is dismissed by her superiors when she asks questions about an occurrence that may have been supernatural.

Explanation:

These are the options that are included with this question:

• The narrator feels inadequate when she reports seeing a supernatural being and nobody believes her.
• The narrator feels like she lacks control of her own fate when her superiors refuse to answer her questions.
• The narrator is dismissed by her superiors when she asks questions about an occurrence that may have been supernatural.
• The narrator fears that she may be doomed when she witnesses a strange woman walking around the home.

The statement that best describes the situation found in this passage and that best reflects a social attitude of Wharton's time is the fact that the narrator is dismissed when she tries to ask questions about an event that worries her. There are two issues that are reflected here: gender and class. Because the woman is a female, as well as a servant, her opinions and worries are not considered important. This is also a gothic element as it shows the vulnerable, weak female who is a victim. This is a common feature of Gothic literature.

Answer 2

Some ladies are very stiff about having their servants’ friends in the house overnight. This sentence represents the social attitude of that time.