John was a model "product" of society. His love and care for his wife was manifested throughout the story but yet his subconscious, society instilled intentions were always underlying in all his actions. Ehrenreich and English in "The Sick Women of the Upper Classes" tell us that a man's wife was his symbol of wealth. Her leisure indicated his wealth. "Her Idleness, delicacy and childlike ignorance of 'reality' gave a man 'class' that money alone could not provide." John's strict rules and therapy for his wife stems from both his love for her and society's quiet instilment of the importance of wealth and social standing.

John's occupation as a physician dictates his way of thinking. John's wife first description of him in her diary states, "John is practical in the extreme. He has no patience with faith, an intense horror of superstition, and he scoffs openly at any talk of things not to be felt and seen and put down in figures." He is a man of science; things

John also establishes himself as somewhat of a father figure to his wife. John treats her like a child and gives her reason to doubt herself. "Of course it is only nervousness," she decides. She tries to rest, to do as she is told, like a child, but suffers because John does not believe that she is ill.

She tries to discuss her feelings, but this brings only a "stern reproachful look" and she goes back to bed. "Really dear you are better," John says over and over. "Can you not trust me when I tell you so?" John is the man of the house and also a doctor. She should put complete faith in him as all children put complete faith and trust in their parents when they are small. The looks, the constant reassurances, and asking for her trust only put her down, forcing her to depend on John for her survival, and so demeaning herself further.

that cannot be proven with numbers or physical evidence are of no relevance to John.

Meanwhile her reaction is to seek to prove him wrong. "John is a physician, and perhaps . . . perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster. You see he does not believe I am sick! And what can one do?" It seems to me that while putting on an appearance of submission she was frequently rebelling against her husband's orders. She writes when there is nobody around to see her, she tries to move her bed, but always keeps an eye open for someone coming. This is obvious throughout the story.

He "does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him." She feels that she should be "a good girl" and appreciate

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Approximate Word count = 1075
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)