A Rose For Emily And The Yellow Wallpaper Comparison Essay

746 Words2 Pages

Aracely Olivares May 1st, 2014 Comparative Essay ENG 190/M. Miller A Rose for Emily and the Yellow Wallpaper “A Rose for Emily’’ By William Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman,” are two short stories that both associate qualities of differences and similarities. Both stories have several similarities in setting, symbolism and characterization. A major difference of both stories are the point of view they were written in, “A Rose for Emily” is written in third person and “The Yellow Wallpaper” is written in first person point of view. The two short stories are about the women being forced into isolation because of their gender and the beliefs of the men controlling their lives. Both female characters are overwhelmed with maintaining the image that is imposed by the men in high societies, but even more with the feeling of imprisonment and dealing with being mentally and emotionally ill. Although, the stories are similar they have their own twists. In “A Rose for Emily” Emily's father is overprotective and gives up on the idea of any man being good enough for his daughter, keeping her from finding true love and living her own life. It is a story of loneliness, feelings of being controlled, and depression. Until after her father's death, Emily, left with nothing but their home, that seems to symbolize the old south itself as it "had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies.” Emily refuses to accept the fact of her father's passing. Soon enough, Emily meets Homer Barron, a man holding a temporary contract to work in the town. Several town members notice the time Emily and Homer spend together and assume they will marry with no hesitation. As time goes by, nobody has seen Ho... ... middle of paper ... ...t also to prevent the wallpaper from trapping her as well. At the end of the “The Yellow Wallpaper” a couple days before her and her family leave the home, and after determining that suicide would be “improper” her mental stability is completely gone and she begins circling the room, becoming the woman trapped behind the bars of the wallpaper. Both stories give off an unexpected twist, each woman helps to make each title into an object of either denial or exception. Even though both stories have great similarities, the authors' individual points of view resulted into the concerning of their surroundings. In the end of both stories, the items that they psychologically and then physically create take over the wife and Emily, their minds became weak that quickly took over them completely. Soon finalizing their mental and/or physical illness to their own time of death.

Open Document