Friday, September 13, 2013

Where is love in the relationship between the narrator and her husband in "The Yellow Wallpaper"?

This is an interesting topic.  I am confident that there
is love in the relationship between the narrator and her husband.  I don't sense that he
is abusive to her or is one that seeks to humiliate his wife.  However, what he does to
her, even if it is done out of "care," is quite oppressive to her.  Her voice is
silenced, or even smothered.  I think that this is where their relationship lies.  There
might be love present, but there is not respect present.  The arc of the relationship
between them is one where the husband does not respect the needs of his wife.  Rather,
is convinced it is "nerves" and does not authenticate that her experience might be
fundamentally different, one that needs to be understood with a voice that needs to be
acknowledged.  The fact that the narrator can only experience this validation through
the wallpaper is reflective of the lack of respect present in this relationship.  In the
end, love is there.  Yet, the desire to control or to take care of someone else is
smothering the identity and experiences of the narrator, who finds that her voice must
be heard and respected no matter what, reflecting the ending of the
story.

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