Comparing The Yellow Wallpaper 'And A Rose For Emily'

The short stories "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner illustrate the plight of women in a patriarchal society. The female characters in these stories are oppressed and dehumanized by the overbearing male influences in each of their lives. Both characters delve into insanity as an escape from the world that devalues them. Although these stories depict a similar era and theme, the portrayal of the female characters in each story is quite different, as are the authors of the stories themselves. Each author weaves into their stories their own perspective of women's lives at this time based on their own life experiences, but also on their own genders. The author's genders and view on their worlds greatly affects the way the female characters in these stories are depicted.

"A Rose for Emily" is a harrowing tale of an old maid, driven to grasp for that which she is robbed. Her controlling father rips away any chance of her forming a life outside of him, and when he dies, she is left with no one. Alone and betrayed, she
Perhaps if the author of "A Rose for Emily" were a woman, we would be able to connect with Miss Emily, and envision her pain on a deeper level. We would perhaps have a greater understanding of her mind and the thoughts that led her to her crime and may have been portrayed as a desperate, isolated woman who committed a crime out of loneliness. If the author of "The Yellow Wallpaper" were a man, perhaps John would be portrayed as a heroic husband who sacrificed for his ill wife. Perhaps the narrator would be portrayed as a burden on her caring husband, causing him much grief and many tears. Although these stories tell of two desperate women, the point of view from which they are told, and the author's insights greatly affect the way these characters are