"Better in body perhaps—‘ I began, and stopped short, for he [John] sat up straight and looked at me with such a stern, reproachful look that I could not say another word.” What seems to be John’s aRtude about the narrator’s conditon? How does this mirror society’s attitude—both past and present— regarding mental health conditons?
John is a patriarchal jerk. He sees the Narrator's anxieties as female "frailty" tantamount to a child's temper tantrum or overly emotional display. He does not consider his wife's depression, perhaps postpartum depression in this case, to be a legitimate concern. John's view of mental illness carried a stigma that still exists today. Some people view mental illness as a weakness that is the fault of the sufferer. Although more people are aware of mental illness issues today, it is still stigmatized in the work place and in private.
