“and then that gate at the head of the stairs, and so on”
The narrator’s setting has many elements that infantilize her – like the fact that she is literally living in a former nursery – but one of the most evident items is the gate at the top of the stairs. This type of gate is traditionally used for young children so that they do not fall down the stairs. Although this gate is from the former owners of the house, John, her husband, chooses not to remove it. And even though the narrator would most likely be able to step over or open the gate herself, its presence reveals the ways she is treated like a child. Similarly, the child’s gate might remind the narrator of her domestic role as a mother that she has given up, or been forced to give up, in order to “rest” and get better. For a woman during the time period she was living in, this was frowned upon. Additionally, the narrator’s use of the words, “and so on”, immediately disregards as trivial the idea that there is a child’s gate as part of her surroundings. She is able to move past the fact that this gate exists within her space, as if it is normal or unremarkable, proving the control John has over her mind and her physical environment.
