![]() ![]() ![]() He continues to infantilize her, calling her his "'blessed little goose.'" This paternalistic attitude extends to Jennie, who "hopes for no better profession" than being a housekeeper and who probably believes writing is the cause of the narrator's sickness. ![]() With the narrator's identities as wife and mother subverted, John acts more like a father to her than he does as a husband. Mary (likely an allusion to the ideal mother: the Virgin Mary) has replaced her as the caretaker of the couple's baby, while Jennie is a model of the perfectly submissive and happily domesticated wife who cares for John’s house and welfare. Because of her ailment, the narrator is unable to fulfill her wifely and maternal duties, and she feels that she must be a terrible burden to John. This section of the story is the first time that the narrator reveals her personal insecurities about her illness. As soon as the she hears Jennie coming up the stairs, the narrator puts away her writing and assumes a “restful” position. The narrator also acknowledges that Jennie probably agrees with John on her diagnosis and believes that the writing has made her sick. The narrator knows that Jennie spies on her and reports to John so she must make sure not to let her see her writing. Through the window she sees John's sister, Jennie, a caring and perfect housekeeper, approaching the house. The narrator is also beginning to discern something else in the unruly pattern of the wallpaper: a “strange” figure skulking in the background. She is drawn to a recurrent pattern that looks like a broken neck and two upside-down eyes staring at her. The narrator begins to be preoccupied with the pattern of the wallpaper. John also continues to deny her other hope for her own recovery he will allow her to see her friends and relatives only after she is well again. The narrator is still convinced that writing would heal her, but she gets tired whenever she tries. She thinks she sees people walking down the lane, but John tells her not to give in to these fanciful visions, as it will exacerbate her nervous condition. To avoid looking at the wallpaper, she looks at the garden out of one window, and out of another at the bay, the estate's private wharf, and the shaded lane from the house. Still, the narrator is upset that John dismisses her request so quickly and wishes that there was some way to get rid of the paper. He argues that if they repaper the room for their three-month stay, soon she will want to change everything else in the room, too (which she privately admits is true). She attempts to convince John to change the wallpaper, but John laughs at her anxiety. The wallpaper now irritates the narrator even more since her first day in the house. She acknowledges that she is much too nervous to take care of their baby, and she is grateful that their nanny, Mary, is able to take her place. She is too tired to do anything on her own and feels an overwhelming sense of guilt for her incapacity as John’s wife. Still, she believes that she is suffering from nothing more than mere nervousness, and she does not want to be a burden to John. She blames John for not understanding how much she suffers and longs for his support. John is away during the day on cases, even at night sometimes, and the narrator is extremely lonely. It has been two weeks since the narrator and John have moved into the house, and she has not felt like writing since the first day. ![]()
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