Question

read the excerpt from \the yellow wallpaper\

at first he meant to repaper the room, but afterwards he said that i was letting it get the better of me, and that nothing was worse for a nervous patient than to give way to such fancies.

which gothic element in this excerpt reflects a social attitude of gilman’s time?

○ the narrator feels an inevitable sense of doom
○ the qualities of the wallpaper create a sense of mystery
○ john appears to be a supernatural being
○ john views his wife’s concerns as unimportant and silly.

Explanation:

In Gilman's time, there was a social attitude of dismissing women's mental health concerns. John, the narrator's husband, seeing her concerns about the wallpaper as unimportant/silly reflects this attitude. The other options: A is about the narrator's feeling, not social attitude; B is about wallpaper mystery, not social attitude; C misrepresents John as supernatural (he's not). So D is correct.

Answer:

D. John views his wife’s concerns as unimportant and silly.