The narrator's husband is best described as?

John is described as being "practical and extreme" by the narrator and is ignorant of his wife's mental state. He believes that his wife is suffering from a temporary nervous depression and forces her to remain isolated in the upstairs room of a colonial mansion against her wishes. While John's intentions seem good, he misinterprets the extent of his wife's mental anguish and unknowingly makes her situation worse. John's misdiagnosis results in his wife's mental breakdown. John forbids his wife from leaving the room, walking outside, visiting with others, or writing in her diary. John is often out of town, which also negatively affects his wife's mental state. The narrator says,

John does not know how much I really suffer. He knows there is no reason to suffer, and that satisfies him (Stetson, 3).

John also laughs at his wife's description of the wallpaper and makes her feel like a burden on the family. John's superiority complex and ignorance lead to his wife's mental breakdown. His domineering, arrogant personality and relatively callous nature are the reasons he refuses to listen to his wife's concerns. Unfortunately, John's insistence that his wife remain isolated in the upstairs room of the colonial mansion leads to her mental breakdown.