I have chosen to write about The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily. While The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily have main similarities there are also some key differences between the two of them, namely the perspective the each respective author has when writing the literary story. Through reading both The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily, the reader can clearly see that the similar thematic idea between the two literary stories is one of isolation and distorted reality for specifically females. In A Rose for Emily and The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Gilman and William Faulkner both use different writing techniques to portray their common theme of isolation and distorted reality, a major influence on each Gilman and Faulkner is …show more content…
the setting and perspective in which they grew up with. A Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman was written in 1892. In the story, the reader is immediately presented with two characters, the narrator or the woman and her husband John. The narrator suffers from what is thought to be a temporary form of nervous depression. To battle this temporary illness, the couple decides to stay at a mansion for the summer. John, the husband, is a doctor who believes that this break from society will help his mentally ill wife cope with her nervous depression. The narrator is seen as very submissive to her husband because of his education. "Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me some good. But what is one to do?"(Gilman486). The reader can see her submissiveness throughout the story as her ability to make decisions is taken away from her and her fate is put in the hands of those around her. The narrator is put in an upper room with yellow wallpaper on the walls. She is told by others not to do anything so that she may rest. After being locked up in the room, she begins to believe that a woman is trapped behind the yellow wallpaper. "I kept still and watched the moonlight on that undulating wallpaper till I felt creepy. The faint figure behind the seemed to shake the pattern, just as if she wanted to get out."(Gilman491). Near the end of her stay at the estate, the narrator is so crazed that she rips the yellow wallpaper down to release the woman. "I kept on creeping just the same, but I looked at him over my shoulder. "I've got out, at last," said I, "in spite of you and Jane! And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!"(Gilman497). Her husband barges into the room to the sight of his wife crawling around ripping the wallpaper down and he immediately falls to the ground. The isolation and distorted reality of women are evidently seen in The Yellow Wallpaper. Charlotte Gilman writes much of The Yellow Wallpaper based off of her own life experiences. Growing up Gilman lived with her mother, this relationship helped to foster the idea of feminism in her life. Clara Park writes that Gilman was strong feminist long before the feminist movement and before it was ever popular to be considered a feminist (Gale701). In the late 19th century Charlotte Gilman experienced severe depression and her family and friends persuaded her to go to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for treatment and seclusion (Gilman484). This series of events can be also seen in The Yellow Wallpaper. The effect of isolation and distorted reality had tremendously negative effects in Charlotte Gilman's life. Her severe depression affected both her professional and personally lives. The Yellow Wallpaper is considered to be Charlotte Gilman's most famous piece as it is where she writes on the injustice and suppression of women. The woman in The Yellow Wallpaper tore down the wallpaper to illustrate escaping the pressures and hold of others in her life. Unfortunately, in Gilman's life, she never seemed able to escape and become free from her past and those around. A Rose for Emily was written by William Faulkner in 1930.
The story is written in a unique way as the perspective comes from the townspeople looking in at Miss Emily Grierson's life. The story also shifts to different points in Emily's life not in a chronological manner. A Rose for Emily begins with the townspeople attending Miss Emily's funeral. The sole purpose for the townspeople coming out to the funeral was to see the inside of Miss Emily's house. Miss Emily's and the town had a very special arrangement in which Miss Emily would not have to pay taxes. Over time the leadership of the town changed and dispute arouses on whether or not she should pay taxes, despite the town's effort Miss Emily refused to pay the taxes. Many years before the townspeople smelled a terrible smell coming from Miss Emily's home, instead of confronting Miss Emily about if they decided to sprinkle lime around the house until it went away (Faulkner100). She has trouble grieving for her father when he dies and denies that he is dead for a few days. After the death of her father Emily begins to date Homer Barron who is in town working. The town does not accept the life that Emily is living, but she is seen buying arsenic so the townspeople assume that she is going to kill herself. The last time that Homer is seen is when he enters the home of Miss Emily. "A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him to the kitchen door at dusk one evening."(Faulkner1002). Many years pass and Emily ages and she becomes a hermit in her home. The story finishes at her funeral, afterward, the townspeople go into Miss Emily's house and find the corpse of Homer Barron on a bed with an indentation of a body next to him with gray hair on the pillow (Faulkner1004). Emily was faced with the pressures of society and the trust issues that come with relationships. To combat them she killed Homer run from possible pain in the relationship and then she became a hermit to isolate herself from the townspeople and their judgment.
Miss Emily suffered from the isolation and distorted reality throughout her life. William Faulkner was an author who grew up in the south, his childhood experiences affected him in that he primarily wrote southern gothic novels on race. As Faulkner seeks to communicate the idea of isolation and distorted reality among women he does so by also discussion the matter of race in the south. With the death of Emily comes the end of the "southern hierarchy", it becomes just a piece of history that has been forgiven for its insanity (Nebeker10). The distorted "hierarchy" in which Emily lived in, is what ultimately came to an end when she died. The town and the south were no free to modernize and leave the past behind. The isolation of Emily can also stand to represent the isolation in which William Faulkner lived much of his life. Allen Tate writes the obituary for William Faulkner, he writes that in all of their years of friendship he saw Faulkner but a handful of times (Tate160). The isolation that Faulkner experienced in his own life transitioned on to his literary works. While both The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner has a very similar underlying theme of isolation and distorted reality amongst women, both go about it in a very different way. Charlotte Gilman writes with a much more feminist attitude in her paper as she seeks to incorporate the pain that she has felt from those around her. William Faulkner, while he does write about his isolation and includes his experience with living in the south as it was in the process from leaving the hierarchal design behind and moving on to a shift in racial prejudices. Through all of this research, it is clear to see that the events in an author's life, the perspective they have, and the setting which they grew up in all have an effect on the writing style of an author.
In “A Rose for Emily” Miss Emily Grierson faces the struggle of living a life in the shadow of her father. The earliest is instance is alluded on page 120, where she is a figure in the background with father “in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip.” While this story is set in the time of horse and buggy, his domineering image and the whip bring to mind a girl who was under constant threat of a beating. Her father also isolated her by chasing off any suitors as not being good enough for her (Faulkner, 123). Her father had a fallout with family over her great aunt’s estate so she is left her isolated from her any of her kin (Faulkner, 125). When her father dies it is his death seems to be the stress that pushes her over the edge. For three days she denied to those that came to offer their condolences that he was dead before she finally broke down (Faulkner, 124). For whatever the reason she falls in love for a foreman named Homer Barron who comes to town to pave the sidewalks. They are seen together and she buys him ...
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper, the two main characters exhibit behavior that some readers may consider unusual or even totally crazy. These two women are having a difficult time adjusting to the many changes taking place around them. In the midst of these changes, they face the struggles of being women such as post partum depression and love and rejection from men. Such problems become so overbearing that each woman ends up in their own delusional world which in turn, leads to their isolation and insanity. Gender issues, love, hate, insanity and isolation, are thematic connections in both stories and are important components of how each woman functions throughout the story and how each character fares in the end.
“To jump out of the window would be admirable exercise, but the bars are too strong even to try,” (Gilman). There are an extraordinary number of stories written about women that go insane for certain reasons. Two of those stories are, The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Both stories are about women who are driven insane by situations that are happening in their lives; both women turn to isolation for different reasons. Both A Rose for Emily by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner show similarities and differences in dysfunctional lives.
It is unhealthy for any human being to have a restraint on their mind or life. Naturally, a person will become unstable living under such circumstances. People need to express their imagination and live freely in order to remain mentally stable. There are ways to restrain people who need help without controlling and taking away every aspect of their life. Where the female “madness” starts is different with every woman, but there is no doubt that there are certain factors and conditions that develop and escalate the insanity. Jane and Emily in the short stories, “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, both prove to be victims of abuse from the male authority
Faulkner writes “A Rose for Emily” in the view of a memory, the people of the towns’ memory. The story goes back and forth like memories do and the reader is not exactly told whom the narrator is. This style of writing contributes to the notions Faulkner gives off during the story about Miss Emily’s past, present, and her refusal to modernize with the rest of her town. The town of Jefferson is at a turning point, embracing the more modern future while still at the edge of the past. Garages and cotton gins are replacing the elegant southern homes. Miss Emily herself is a living southern tradition. She stays the same over the years despite many changes in her community. Even though Miss Emily is a living monument, she is also seen as a burden to the town. Refusing to have numbers affixed to the side of her house when the town receives modern mail service and not paying her taxes, she is out of touch with reality. The younger generation of leaders brings in Homer’s company to pave the sidewalks. The past is not a faint glimmer but an ever-present, idealized realm. Emily’s morbid bridal ...
A Rose for Emily Life is fickle and most people will be a victim of circumstance and the times. Some people choose not to let circumstance rule them and, as they say, “time waits for no man”. Faulkner’s Emily did not have the individual confidence, or maybe self-esteem and self-worth, to believe that she could stand alone and succeed at life especially in the face of changing times. She had always been ruled by, and depended on, men to protect, defend and act for her. From her Father, through the manservant Tobe, to Homer Barron, all her life was dependent on men.
William Faulkner and Charlotte Gilman are two well known writers for intriguing novels of the 1800’s. Their two eccentric pieces, "A Rose for Emily" and "The Yellow Wallpaper" are equally alluring. These authors and their works have been well recognized, but also critized. The criticism focuses on the society that is portrayed in these novels. The modern readers of today’s society are resentful to this dramatic society. These two novels are full of tradition, rebellion and the oppression over women’s rights. Both of these novels share the misery of the culture, but there is some distinction between the two. "A Rose for Emily" is a social commentary while "The Yellow Wallpaper" is an informative novel about the writer herself. The authors outlook focus on the gloomy structure in society during that time frame and therefore, create down hearted, reckless characters that offer stimulation for women of all generations.
The women in William Faulkner 's "A Rose for Emily" and Charlotte Perkins Gilman 's "The Yellow Wallpaper" are impelled to insanity because they are confined by the dominating male figures in their lives. The men in both stories use gender and social status as means of controlling these women. Isolation is also utilized by both men as a method of control which plays a major role in the mental instability of these women. The stories both take place in an era when women were seen as weak fragile individuals who were not able to think for themselves. Both women withdraw into their own individual worlds as a strategy of escaping the reality of the world they actually live in. In addition, these women rebel as a method of obtaining some sense of control over their lives. Although both women are detached from the world around them the consequence of
Upon the passing of her father and the sudden mysterious disappearance of her short-term lover Homer Barron, it took her three days to accept her father’s passing, such that when the ladies of the neighborhood came to comfort her, she informed them that her father “was not dead.” (Faulkner 630) Because of her denial of her father’s death, Miss Emily rarely became seen by those other than her servant. The townspeople describe her seclusion as “...she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all.” (Faulkner 310) In article Uncovering the Past: The Role of Dust Imagery in A Rose for Emily written by Aubrey Binder, she highlights these effects “When Emily’s father dies, the physical presence of his influence dies with him, but the effects of his actions remain to wreak havoc on Emily’s future.” (6) With nearly thirty years passing and an amounting unpaid tax bill, the newest generation of towns people did not favor Emily’s peculiar arrangement with the former mayor. In addition to her mounting tax bill, neighbors began complaining of the odor exuding from Miss Emily’s estate. In order to protect her reputation, men of authority repeatedly went in the night to sprinkle
Although the stories are very different, the tension stems from the perception and expectations of women in society during the time each story was written. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the character struggles throughout the story due to her controlling husband and a woman’s role in society during this time. On the other hand, "A Rose for Emily” shows the struggle of Emily Grierson and her inability to accept the changing times due to a father who controlled her into only knowing and understanding his ideal of a southern
In the stories “A Rose for Emily” written by William Faulkner, and “The Yellow Wallpaper” written by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, talk about how two women are experiencing the same emotional situations they have to endure. Both of these stories express the emotional and physical trials the characters have to endure on an everyday basis. In the story “The Yellow Wallpaper” it shows a woman who is oppressed and is suffering from depression and loneliness. In “A Rose for Emily” it is showing the struggle of maintaining a tradition and struggling with depression. Both of the stories resemble uncontrollable changes and the struggles of acceptance the characters face during those changes.
William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” are two short stories that incorporate multiple similarities and differences. Both stories’ main characters are females who are isolated from the world by male figures and are eventually driven to insanity. In “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the unidentified narrator moves to a secluded area with her husband and sister-in-law in hopes to overcome her illness. In “A Rose for Emily,” Emily’s father keeps Emily sheltered from the world and when he dies, she is left with nothing. Both stories have many similarities and differences pertaining to the setting, characterization, symbolism, and their isolation from the world by dominant male figures, which leads them to insanity.
Emily Grierson, referred to as Miss Emily throughout the story, is the main character of 'A Rose for Emily,' written by William Faulkner. Emily is born to a proud, aristocratic family sometime during the Civil War; Miss Emily used to live with her father and servants, in a big decorated house. The Grierson Family considers themselves superior than other people of the town. According to Miss Emily's father none of the young boys were suitable for Miss Emily. Due to this attitude of Miss Emily's father, Miss Emily was not able to develop any real relationship with anyone else, but it was like her world revolved around her father.
The theme of "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner is that people should let go of the past, moving on with the present so that they can prepare to welcome their future. Emily was the proof of a person who always lived on the shadow of the past; she clung into it and was afraid of changing. The first evident that shows to the readers right on the description of Grierson's house "it was a big, squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street." The society was changing every minutes but still, Emily's house was still remained like a symbol of seventieth century. The second evident show in the first flashback of the story, the event that Miss Emily declined to pay taxes. In her mind, her family was a powerful family and they didn't have to pay any taxes in the town of Jefferson. She even didn't believe the sheriff in front of her is the "real" sheriff, so that she talked to him as talk to the Colonel who has died for almost ten years "See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson." Third evident was the fact that Miss Emily had kept her father's death body inside the house and didn't allow burying him. She has lived under his control for so long, now all of sudden he left her, she was left all by herself, she felt lost and alone, so that she wants to keep him with her in order to think he's still living with her and continued controlling her life. The fourth evident and also the most interesting of this story, the discovery of Homer Barron's skeleton in the secret room. The arrangement inside the room showing obviously that Miss Emily has slept with the death body day by day, until all remained later was just a skeleton, she's still sleeping with it, clutching on it every night. The action of killing Homer Barron can be understood that Miss Emily was afraid that he would leave her, afraid of letting him go, so she decided to kill him, so that she doesn't have to afraid of losing him, of changing, Homer Barron would still stay with her forever.
Through the use of setting, characterization and theme Faulkner was able to create quite a mysterious and memorable story. "A Rose for Emily" is more than just a story though; her death represents the passing of a more genteel way of life. That is much more saddening than the unforgettable scene of Homer's decaying body. The loss of respect and politeness is has a much greater impact on society than a construction worker who by trade is always trying to change things. Generation after generation Miss Emily happily escaped modernism by locking herself in her house the past.