Question

Read the excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper."

If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there is really nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression—a slight hysterical tendency—what is one to do?
My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.
So I take phosphates or phosphites—whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to “work” until I am well again.

What does the narrator’s description reveal about the social context of the story?

A. Women were able to make their own decisions about working.

B. Doctors were believed to be unquestionably all-knowing.

C. Husbands were reluctant to take doctors’ advice.

D. Wives were considered to be less fragile than husbands.

I know the answer isn't A because I did this question once and that's what I put and it was wrong.

Answer 1

B. Doctors were believed to be unquestionably all-knowing.

Step-by-step explanation:

Charlotte Perkins Gilman's short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" was considered to be one of the initial literary works on feminist themes in America. Her story deals with the mental and physical health of the women during the 19th century.

The given excerpt talks of how the narrator was made to act and do whatever the "physician/ husband" says, referring that they are revered in the society. She exclaims "what is one to do?" when "a physician of high standing" tells her what to do. She was expected to obey whatever had been said, be it the physician husband or the physician brother. Their words and claims dictate how healthy or unhealthy she is. This shows that doctors were believed to be unquestionably all-knowing, with no one seeming or expected to act or do otherwise.

Answer 2

The correct answer is B.

In this excerpt from "The Yellow Wallpaper," we can see that, even if the woman is not convinced that the diagnose she was given is right, she does not question it.

She believes that if "a physician of high standing" has said so, then, it must be true, because doctors are thought to have unquestionable knowledge.