Short Story Comparison
Scales 1!
Katrina Scales
David Miles
ENC-1102
16 July 2015
A Yellow Rose
It is likely that after reading short stories The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, any sensible reader will feel disturbed in at least the slightest. Both texts contain neurotic women of unsound mind who have deathly obsessions. At first glance, these stories do not seem to have much in common; they have been written through opposite perspectives, one neglects to be chronological, and the setting takes place nearly forty years apart. After a second read, however, it was easy to notice a distant connection between the mentally ill characters. When imagining A Rose for Emily in Emily’s perspective instead of that of the towns, there is certainly room for the possibility of an equally as imaginative and misunderstood woman as Gilman’s narrator living inside the Grierson house.
I will elaborate on this as well as the parallels of the circumstances each woman from both stories are trapped in. Also, I will address the source of the depression and insanity among the both main characters. A Mississippi town in the 20th century: the Grierson house remains a symbol of the past and tradition for the citizens. Emily and her father have continued to be the subject of daily gossip among townsfolk and are revealed to the reader only through the eyes of a citizen. Emily herself lives in an old house and displays signs of eccentric behavior from the start unlike the woman from The Yellow Wallpaper. As a child, Emily Grierson had been cut off from most social contact and courtship by her father. When he dies, she refuses to acknowledge his
Scales 2! death for three days. After the townspeople intervene and bury her father, Emily is soon isolated by an illness, possibly a mental breakdown (Terry Heller 1999). A Northerner, Homer Barron, comes to town and Emily is seen with him. The townspeople consider their relationship improper because of differences in
Katrina Scales
David Miles
ENC-1102
16 July 2015
A Yellow Rose
It is likely that after reading short stories The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins
Gilman and A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner, any sensible reader will feel disturbed in at least the slightest. Both texts contain neurotic women of unsound mind who have deathly obsessions. At first glance, these stories do not seem to have much in common; they have been written through opposite perspectives, one neglects to be chronological, and the setting takes place nearly forty years apart. After a second read, however, it was easy to notice a distant connection between the mentally ill characters. When imagining A Rose for Emily in Emily’s perspective instead of that of the towns, there is certainly room for the possibility of an equally as imaginative and misunderstood woman as Gilman’s narrator living inside the Grierson house.
I will elaborate on this as well as the parallels of the circumstances each woman from both stories are trapped in. Also, I will address the source of the depression and insanity among the both main characters. A Mississippi town in the 20th century: the Grierson house remains a symbol of the past and tradition for the citizens. Emily and her father have continued to be the subject of daily gossip among townsfolk and are revealed to the reader only through the eyes of a citizen. Emily herself lives in an old house and displays signs of eccentric behavior from the start unlike the woman from The Yellow Wallpaper. As a child, Emily Grierson had been cut off from most social contact and courtship by her father. When he dies, she refuses to acknowledge his
Scales 2! death for three days. After the townspeople intervene and bury her father, Emily is soon isolated by an illness, possibly a mental breakdown (Terry Heller 1999). A Northerner, Homer Barron, comes to town and Emily is seen with him. The townspeople consider their relationship improper because of differences in
Cited: Gardner, Janet E. Literature: A Portable Anthology. 3rd ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin 's, 2013.