Similarities Between A Rose For Emily And The Yellow Wallpaper

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In “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner portrays Emily Grierson as a complex character who stands out as a symbol of the past generation in the changing town of Jefferson. Emily’s stagnant personality, shaped by years of living under her father’s dominating influence in solitude, is reinforced by her perceptive interactions with the townspeople. On the other hand, Charlotte Perkins Gilman presents the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” as a frustrated young woman entrapped by her psychological disorder. The limitations others impose upon the narrator eventually bring about her descent into madness. Her desperate attempt to free the women she believes inhibits the yellow wallpaper in her nursery room is a reflection of her own internal endeavor to free herself from her mental illness. Despite the two women’s differences, Emily and the narrator of “The Yellow …show more content…
Both women are heavily suppressed by patriarchal influences. These external controls isolate Emily and the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” from society and deprive them of normal social interactions, consequently leading to their mental deteriorations. There is no doubt that both women suffer from some form of psychological disorder. Even though Gilman published “The Yellow Wallpaper” four decades before Faulkner wrote “A Rose for Emily,” it is intriguing to note that the thematic message regarding the detrimental effects of extreme patriarchal control is still prevalent. Evidently, the society’s misconception of women’s role and the underestimation of the seriousness of psychological disorders still transcend across time and remain applicable to the audience today. Collectively, Emily and the narrator of “The Yellow Wallpaper” ’s alarming outcomes clearly depict the unfortunate consequences that result when women are robbed of opportunities and isolated from