This passage was chosen because many of the conflicts in the narrator's life was brought up and exemplified. The relationship between the narrator and her husband, the environment, the wallpaper and her inner self are all major issues that were touched upon. By doing a close reading of this passage, we will be able to understand the narrator better, and hence, get a better understanding of the story.
The people around the narrator appear to be dictating her life and we see her allowing them to take over her life and her responsibilities. Her sister -in-law, Jennie " sees to everything now" and the narrator seems to almost take this for granted when she says, " OF COURSE I didn't do a thing". Jane has made herself completely reliant on John. Her dependence is made very evident judging by the number of times she says his name. It is as though she is a child, always waiting for someone to tell her what to do, or hankering after a person's approval. This trait of self-inducing entrapment is continued till the end of the story, where she once again traps herself, this time in the abyss of insanity. Besides her actions, her mood swings also seem to show her childishness. From enthusiastically describing the wallpaper, she abruptly breaks off and goes to rest, a kind of behaviour familiar in children.
However this behaviour could be attributed to John's babying of Jane. John coddles Jane, calling her "his darling", and as she mentioned, "gathered me up in his arms" just as an adult would a child. This pampering sometimes extends to the effect of smothering her. It is certainly significant that she mentions herself as being "kept in the room". The word "kept" conjures up an image of a pet or a caged animal that has no choice (which she actually does not) but to stay where she is told. This suppression is shown when she says that she "would cry at nothing, and cry most of the time" but not when John is around.
