He has control over her domain by placing her in the attic, without much option to wander the house; her personal life when he bands her from writing down her thoughts; her professional life when he keeps her away from her child, which at the time was her profession; and finally her social life when he protests against her see cousins Henry and Julia. .
As John is blocking the narrators social options and placing her only in a position to be at his demand, keeping her in line with his own wants and needs; much like a parent does with a young child. There are many times in the story where he refers to her as his child, saying things like "blessed little goose" (Gilman 1152), "little girl" and "Bless her little heart" (Gilman 1156). By these words, John is placing himself as the "father knows best", again lending himself to the "patriarchical" dominator (Suess). .
John uses his father representation to get the narrator to follow his strict "medical" practices. When the narrator tried to go against the strict regiment of her husband/doctor, her husband would in turn speak what Pertiz calls "Patriarchal language". He used this language to tell all women their places in society, and put his wife in her place.
However, the narrator herself did go against the strict orders of her husband, and at times, her writing can be seen as sarcastic talk about her husband. She writes, "It is so hard to talk to John about my case he is wise, and because he loves me so" (Gilman 1152). The sarcasm towards John's practices can be seen through this line, and also the point when the narrator is seen to acknowledge her husband's control. Her disobeying actions can be seen as she writes more about her in-depth study of the wallpaper, all actions which were prohibited by John. However, the narrator was beginning to go against these strict demands and in a way making a name for her. She is giving a name to herself by drifting slowly away from what John wanted to the things she wanted herself.
