Line: “She is a perfect and enthusiastic housekeeper, and hopes for no better profession. I verily believe she thinks it is the writing which made me sick!” (Gilman 5). 

The narrator is disgusted with the lack of drive of John’s sister to become something of herself other than a “enthusiastic housekeeper.” John’s sister has been instructed to come help clean the place because the narrator is not allowed to do it herself per John’s treatment plan. The narrator is irritated with his sister because she perfectly fulfills the expected feminine role. The narrator apparently has been trying to resist this role over the course of her life. As a writer, she is an educated and intelligent woman who wants more for herself than housekeeping. Because of her condition, now she cannot write, and she cannot even sweep her own floors. She has been completely demoted. Although John’s sister may be happy with her choices, the narrator believes that the sister “hopes for no better profession.” Her irritation with John’s sister progresses when the narrator mentally accuses John’s sister of thinking “it is the writing which made [her] sick!” The narrator is now very defensive over the potential judgement that she may be feeling. Gilman sets up an interesting gender dynamic in this line by having two feminine characters judge one another. The sister is fulfilling the sad role “perfect[ley]” in the narrator’s eyes, but she is not striving for something better. In another light, when the narrator was striving for something better, it was taken away from her and she was set back to something less than a housekeeper, and more like a child. According to John, the aspirations that the narrator has had to pursue non-traditional feminine work, such as writing, have led to her mental decline. Trying to be more than a traditional feminine woman has led to her mental decline according to John. As a provider calling for a rest cure, John has set his wife back to make her acknowledge her place. 

Click here to return to the text.