The Yellow Wallpaper

“Still I will proudly declare that there is something queer about it.” 

Upon her arrival to the house, the narrator notices something mysterious about the house. She supports her own intuition with a reminder to the reader that the mansion has been “let so cheaply” and that it has “stood so long untenanted” (131), despite its grandeur. This mention of a “something queer” foreshadows many of the creepier elements of Gilman’s short story, from the unexpected prison-like quality of the narrator’s bedroom to the severe decline in the narrator’s mental health evidenced by her descriptions of the wallpaper pattern.

“John laughs at me, of course, but expects that in marriage.”

Although the narrator’s tone is superficially light, she reveals in this short line of text that she has cynically low expectations of marriage and that she is fully aware of the gender roles that accompany marriage in her day and age. John might be devoted to his wife and genuinely concerned for her health and happiness, yet their roles place him firmly in the superior position, from which he can treat her dismissively. 

“I sometimes fancy that in my condition if I had less opposition and more society and stimulus—but John says the very worst thing I can do is to think about my condition, and I confess it always made me feel bad.” 

In this passage, the narrator reveals that she knows what will help her to feel better: acceptance, respect, conversation, and social stimulation.