this again is nothing more than a sign of the inability of the narrator. I don't believe her sex to be the cause of her suppression it is her lack of understanding of not only herself, but of how to successfully make others aware of what is best for herself. The narrator also speaks many times in a manner, which suggests that because a man speaks she has no means by which to disagree with him because she is a woman, yet another feminist tact. A perfect example of this is presented in the beginning passages of the story, where the narrator states "Personally, I disagree with their (her husband's and brother's) ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?" This last sentence "But what is one to do?" exemplifies wonderfully her oppressed female stature in the society of her life.The proceeding passage is yet another display of the woman's ineptness with self-esteem. If the woman would just take a moment to assess the fact that she is quite possibly right about her own recovery even though she is a woman the conflict would immediately taken from the sexist realm to a realm of inner-conflict, which is were I believe many of the topics covered in this story belong. The final passages of the story, at last, successfully manifest a display of power and possible regain of self-governance through the narrator's finally standing up to her husband by locking him out of the room in which he has imprisoned her supposedly for her benefit. Whereupon, for the first time in the story he must listen to her entreaties to discover where the key is hidden. The proceeding assessment of the final moments of the story could quite possibly be a successful way in which the author intended to say much, after the fact, of howshe understood the need for a woman to stand up for her rights even in the face of a man's believed superiority. This is an astute revelation considering that at that t...
