A Rose For Emily And The Yellow Wall-Paper

The topic that I have decided to explore for my Research Paper speaks about comparing the main character’s social issues in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” to Gilman’s “The Yellow Wall-Paper”. What initially drew my attention towards these stories and topic were the ways these women were treated in their society. While reading these stories, I empathized with each main character’s struggle of being judged and controlled by the people in their society. Throughout these stories, the main characters are expected to act a certain way and are forced into social isolation. In Faulkner’s story, Emily remains single until her 30’s and becomes subject to judgment when she eventually finds a partner. In Gilman’s story, the narrator is prohibited from doing any kind of activity and is forced to deal with her issues by herself. Thomas Dilworth speaks about the town’s southern values and how they affected Emily Grierson’s actions in “A Rose for Emily”. Dilworth explains that the town disapproved Emily’s love affair with Homer Barron because of her social status. In the end, Dilworth believes that

Quawas argues that the narrator is aware of her place in society and struggles to free herself from the social norms of the era. Throughout the article, Quawas believes that the narrator’s insanity resulted from the era’s social norms and works as an act of rebellion against them. The narrator’s thoughts about how her husband, John, treats her are shown throughout the story. Quawas argument gives meaning to the narrator’s reactions to John’s actions. John’s actions were typical of a doctor in that era and the narrator seemed to disagree with them. At first, the narrator seemed to comply with her husband’s demands but as she begins to reach insanity, her actions become more rebellious against these social