ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Though John seems like the obvious villain of “The Yellow Wallpaper, ” the story does not allow us to see him as wholly evil. John’s treatment of the narrator’s depression goes terribly wrong, but in all likelihood he was trying to help her, not make her worse.

Detailed explanation-2: -Her husband John, a central character, is a respected physician. He treats the narrator like a small child, calling her a “blessed little goose.” No one questions John’s use of the rest cure because he enjoys social standing as a doctor. He has a negative and dismissive attitude about his wife’s concerns.

Detailed explanation-3: -The woman, in an attempt to escape her confinement, may flee into madness. This use of madness appears to transform the negative construct of female insanity into a necessary affirmation of the female self, breaking the shackles of isolation and oppression that enslaved her.

Detailed explanation-4: -The narrator is secretly writing and is hiding her writing from John because he does not want her to write and feels it will not improve her condition. However, it seems like it is one of the only things that she can control in her life.