Read the excerpt from "The Lady Maid's Bell."
But that wasn't the only queer thing in the house. The very next day I found out that Mrs. Brympton had no
nurse; and then I asked Agnes about the woman I had seen in the passage the afternoon before. Agnes said
she had seen no one, and I saw that she thought I was dreaming. To be sure, it was dusk when we went down
the passage, and she had excused herself for not bringing a light; but I had seen the woman plain enough to
know her again if we should meet. I decided that she must have been a friend of the cook's, or of one of the
other women servants: perhaps she had come down from town for a night's visit, and the servants wanted it
kept secret. Some ladies are very stiff about having their servants' friends in the house overnight. At any rate,
I made up my mind to ask no more questions.
Which statement describes a gothic element in this excerpt that reflects a social attitude of Wharton's time?
O The narrator feels inadequate when she reports seeing a supernatural being and nobody believes her.
The narrator feels like she lacks control of her own fate when her superiors refuse to answer her questions.
The narrator is dismissed by her superiors when she asks questions about an occurrence that may have been
supernatural.
O The narrator fears that she may be doomed when she witnesses a strange woman walking around the home.

In this excerpt from "The Lady Maid's Bell" by Edith Wharton, a gothic element that reflects a social attitude of Wharton's time is the narrator feeling dismissed by her superiors when she asks questions about an occurrence that may have been supernatural. This reflects a common theme in gothic literature where characters who witness or experience the supernatural are often doubted or dismissed by those around them. 1. The narrator's experience of seeing a mysterious woman in the house and then being told by Agnes that she saw no one, shows how the narrator's perception of the supernatural is undermined and dismissed. 2. The social attitude of Wharton's time, particularly in the context of servants and their interactions with their superiors, reflects a hierarchical structure where the lower classes are expected to conform and not question the beliefs or actions of the upper classes. 3. The element of secrecy and suspicion surrounding the woman seen in the house hints at themes of hidden or forbidden knowledge, which are common in gothic literature to create an atmosphere of mystery and intrigue. Overall, the narrator's experience of being dismissed when questioning the supernatural occurrence aligns with gothic elements such as skepticism towards the supernatural, social hierarchy, and themes of secrecy and hidden knowledge prevalent in literature of that time.