In the 19th century, women were expected to fulfill their duties as wives and mothers. They had to be content with their lifestyle and not ask for anything else. Women were condemned to live in a world dominated by men. Women who dared to enter this male realm were associated with prostitutes, the lowest level of society. In the story The Yellow Wallpaper, John seems to be considered the evil doctor with a sick wife who dominates. In truth, it is simply the product of society. The narrator wishes she had more in her life than just her husband and son, but this was not the social norm. Additionally, the love she had for writing and creativity did not make her the ideal wife for this era. The main theme of this story is the domestic trap that women faced from their husbands in the 19th century. The narrator and her doctor husband, John, rented a stately colonial mansion for the summer. The narrator is in love with the house and can't wait to spend her summer here. Her husband John has high hopes that a change of scenery will help her recover from a recent bout of depression. The result is a treatment called the "Rest Cure", a treatment discovered by S. Weir Mitchell. The narrator finds the house strange, but gives it a chance. She becomes angry at John because of his choice of a bedroom for her. After taking a look around the house, he longed for the downstairs room with a window overlooking the gardens. However, John claims that the room is too small and places it in the nursery. It is a large room with barred windows that let in a lot of sunlight. The narrator finds the room scary due to the chaotic yellow wallpaper on the walls. The narrator is imprisoned, unable to have control over her mind. "...t...... half of the paper ......rld. Over the course of the story, the wallpaper becomes an outlet for the narrator to exercise her literary imagination. She soon discovers that the wallpaper wallpaper contains a female figure, or so she thinks. Using her initial sensation of being watched, the narrator decodes the chaotic pattern and locates the figure of a woman struggling to free herself from the bars of the pattern. The narrator identifies completely with this woman. She then begins to believe that she too is trapped in the wallpaper. When she breaks down the wallpaper, she believes that she has finally managed to escape from the wallpaper that she believes John has imprisoned. By tearing it down, the narrator affirms her own identity, which unfortunately now she is confused. As she crawls around the room, she is starting the first phase of a feminist revolt.