Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper." John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no REASON to suffer
, and that satisfies him. Of course it is only nervousness. It does weigh on me so not to do my duty in any way! I meant to be such a help to John, such a real rest and comfort, and here I am a comparative burden already! Nobody would believe what an effort it is to do what little I am able,—to dress and entertain, and order things. How does the narrator’s viewpoint reveal a social attitude of Gilman’s time? The narrator questions why she should perform certain duties, such as entertaining guests. The narrator feels an overwhelming responsibility to meet society’s expectations. The narrator thinks that her husband displays a great deal of nervousness, and she wonders about its source. The narrator questions her place in society and her role as a mother and a wife.
The narrator feels an overwhelming responsibility to meet society's expectations.
Explanation:
The narrator is completely overwhelmed because she does not understand how, having tried so hard and with the best intentions, she has managed to only be a cumbersome burden for her husband.
The fact the the autor downplays the importance of household work, as if it were nothing but a collection of menial tasks, is revealing because it tells us that society at that time had very little respect for the important role of maintaining a household. The level of assumed subservience to the husband does not even begin to be questioned.
