“It is quite alone, standing well back from the road, quite three miles from the village”
The physical position of the colonial mansion that the narrator is renting is significant to identifying the confinement found within her setting. She is staying in a large home “three miles from the village”, revealing that she is secluded from civilization and society; the house itself is defined as being binding and limiting. Therefore, the narrator and the house can be easily compared to one another – almost like looking into a mirror – for being both “alone” and hidden. Since the home is located in a more country-like setting, and not in the city, she is reminded of her isolation consistently just by looking out the window. Similarly, “the home” is traditionally supposed to represent a place of comfort and community, two feelings that are lost when the house is three miles from anyone or anything. So, what is the implication of the location of the house on the narrator’s mental condition? While placement of the house might represent privacy – a preferred aspect for a home – for the narrator, it also represents separation. It is this separation that contributes to the narrator’s decline and her resulting obsession with her surroundings. Although she is told that isolation is what is best for her health, we can see how that easily proves to be untrue.
