This passage was chosen because many of the conflicts in the narrator's life was brought up and exemplified. The relationship between the narrator and her husband, the environment, the wallpaper and her inner self are all major issues that were touched upon. By doing a close reading of this passage, we will be able to understand the narrator better, and hence, get a better understanding of the story.
The people around the narrator appear to be dictating her life and we see her allowing them to take over her life and her responsibilities. Her sister -in-law, Jennie " sees to everything now" and the narrator seems to almost take this for granted when she says, " OF COURSE I didn't do a thing". Jane has made herself completely reliant on John. Her dependence is made very evident judging by the number of times she says his name. It is as though she is a child, always waiting for someone to tell her what to do, or hankering after a person's approval. This trait of self-inducing entrapment is continued till the end of the story, where she once again traps herself, this time in the abyss of insanity. Besides her actions, her mood swings also seem to show her childishness. From enthusiastically describing the wallpaper, she abruptly breaks

This short passage illustrates much of the bizarre incoherence that runs through the story and these inconsistencies certainly play a crucial role in the final understanding of the story and the narrator.

However this behaviour could be attributed to John's babying of Jane. John coddles Jane, calling her "his darling", and as she mentioned, "gathered me up in his arms" just as an adult would a child. This pampering sometimes extends to the effect of smothering her. It is certainly significant that she mentions herself as being "kept in the room". The word "kept" conjures up an image of a pet or a caged animal that has no choice (which she actually does not) but to stay where she is told. This suppression is shown when she says that she "would cry at nothing, and cry most of the time" but not when John is around. Indeed, Jane almost seems fearful of John, as she is not able to "say what she(I) feels and thinks in some way" and writing is "such a relief". This however contradicts her statement that John " loves me(her) deeply", which she says in a tone of one trying to convince oneself. Her behaviour is very ironical, as a person should feel most at ease with, and not the opposite, when around somebody that loves them. It is also very ironical that John should say that "no one" but the narrator herself "can help her(me) out of it" and that she has to use her "will and self-control" when his actions all serve to suppress her very will and control.

As a result, Jane largely gives one the impression that her actions and thoughts are dictated. While she may have physical freedom, able to "walk a little in the garden or down that lovely lane…" albeit not that much, she is mentally limited by the invisible shackles formed by her environment that causes her to tire easily and have to "lie down ever so much" despite her dislike of the wallpaper. Her description of the bed as "nailed down" also creates the impression that she herself is being nailed to the bed and this could be a metaphoric explanation for her perpetual weariness.