Similarities Between A Rose For Emily And The Yellow Wallpaper

The two short stories “ A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are two very similar but at the same time very different. The main characters Emily Grierson, from William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily", and the narrator, from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper," are both in the same boat that many women were placed in the late 1800’s and the early 1900’s. Both of these two stories were written in a generation that women were looked downed upon and made to feel less important than males. I feel these two stores are similar in terms of where women stood in society at that time and how society affected emotional downfalls in both of these main characters. These women are both the protagonists of each of those two stories who both go from being extremely depressed and lonely to absolutely insane. However, these stories are written in totally different point of views which creates two totally different outlooks. “A rose for Emily “is written in third person while “Yellow Wallpaper” is written in first person. Also, the characters are different in terms of that they have two completely different personalities. The two authors ideas in both of these stories focus on how women are looked down upon in different situations and generations in society at that time of history.

The story “A Rose for Emily” was written by William Faulkner. The other story I am using to compare and contrast with is “Killings” written by Andre Dubus. These stories are similar in plot and theme. Both of these stories deal with murder, love and revenge. Though, love and murder are presented in different ways in the two stories. The main character in both these stories are of the opposite sex and they are both the protagonist. “A Rose for Emily” is about a women named Emily Grierson and her mysterious life as a southern belle. While “Killings” is based on a man named Matt Fowler who commits a bad crime.

The short stories “A Rose for Emily” and “Hills Like White Elephants” are like two people suited for each other; puzzle pieces. I say this because they can be hooked together by their common similarities. The two short stories may be different in some aspects, but they are very similar to one another. These similarities being, the themes, symbolism found in each of the stories and the tragedies that occur.

In the short stories Story of an Hour and A Rose for Emily, the two main characters Louise Mallard and Emily Grierson are both similar and dissimilar. These two characters lived in similar ideological societies and they shared a similar pattern of development. But also they differed in their goals and how they thought they could achieve their goals.

Both the stories present major ideas through symbolism. Faulkner uses particular objects to link the tales with his metaphorical meaning. ¡§A Rose for Emily¡¨ does not explicitly involve a rose. Faulkner notes the rose only twice, in the title and the third paragraph from the last, ¡§¡Kthis room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights¡K¡¨ (¡§A Rose for Emily, 129). But the significant symbolic meaning of the rose strongly affects the readers¡¦ perception of Miss Emily. It stirs the readers to sympathize with Miss Emily. Rose stands for true love, expectation and the most resplendent period of life. Miss Emily adorns her room as a bridal chamber in rose color, representing a woman who yearns for true love and dreams of a fairyland where she and her beloved can stay together forever. For years, Miss Emily¡¦s father drove away all the young men who want to date with her. Her father thwarted her to experiencing love. In her dreary existence, Homer Barron is the only bright spot, one ¡§rose¡¨. Like a wilted rose, she keeps his body, forever. It reminds her of the joy she once had in her otherwise empty

Micro Essay #1 Female oppression is an act of putting a woman down or mentally burden them in different ways. “The Yellow Wallpaper” and “The Story of an Hour” are two works of literature that take place in the time frame in which females were oppressed and had little to no freedom, many years ago. Both stories show how men, society, and the media had a huge effect on women’s lives every day. There is an abundant amount of similarities, as well as differences between the two short stories of “The Yellow Wallpaper”, and “The Story of an Hour” expressing how women were treated during this era, and how they dealt with it.

In comparing Alice Walker’s story “The Flowers” with that of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” there are similarities and differences. The main difference in the stories is the way the characters react to the deaths. There are similarities such as the main characters of both stories personally face a dead body, both stories share the symbolism of flowers, and both present a theme of death.

One thing that really stood out to me in both of the settings in the two different stories, was their use of language. In particular how common it was in that time period to use the “n” word. In addition, in both “A Rose for Emily” and “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, both the grandmother and Emily share a very similar view of the past. Both of these characters have a hard time letting go of the past, and are in a sense scared to move forward along with everyone else. However, the grandmother in “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”, was very hypocritical and manipulative, she would never have had the courage to murder someone the way that Emily in “A Rose for Emily” did. Emily resorted to murdering Homer, the man that she had fallen in love with, because

The themes of these stories are also very similar. As you can imagine, both of these stories are very depressing and sorrowful. “A Rose For Emily” and “The Fall of the

Barbara Angelis stated “Women need real moments of solitude and self-reflection to balance out how much of ourselves we give away” (Angelis, BrainyQuote). This statement reflects the theme of isolation and how one can truly understand themselves through self-reflection and time spent in loneliness. In the short stories, “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, both female protagonists, experience a time of seclusion leading to self- realization. Hence, both of these pieces of literature illustrate the troubles of women in a male-dominated society. As a result, both characters experience oppression by overbearing male influences and are physically and emotionally

Throughout The Yellow Wallpaper, A Rose for Emily, and the Story of an Hour, there was a definitive overarching theme. There were also many shared character traits between the three different short stories. These character traits were influenced by the structure and style of the writers, such as direct and indirect characterization. The structures also influence our perception of how the main characters develop, since we may have thought that the characters deteriorated, when they actually became more empowered and free.

The stories, “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper,” both display how external dominance, isolation, and judgment from the outside world may cause one to lose their right mind. In both stories, the main characters begin to sink into further isolation from the outside world, leaving reality in the past.

As we can read and understand the two stories, both have a main similarity in fact of the isolationism because the main character of a “Rose for Emily” that is Miss Emily Grierson, at the beginning her father didn’t let her involve in a relationship with someone, so she felt alone and at the end the same she ends up alone. (expand here)

   There are notable similarities between Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper and Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre. These similarities include the treatment of space, the use of a gothic tone with elements of realism, a sense of male superiority, and the mental instability of women.

In the eighteenth century, Gothic story was an extremely popular form of literature, and it has been a major genre since then. "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner are both Gothic horror stories consisting madness and suspense. The Gothic horror story carries particular conventions in its setting, theme, point of view, and characterisation. Both Gilman and Faulkner follow the conventions of the Gothic horror story to create feelings of gloom, mystery, and suspense that are essential for compelling stories.