Control In A Rose For Emily

Women are used as puppets in a man's world driven to the brink of madness. In “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Jane was left in a room to “rest” so that she could get over postpartum depression, which led to her transforming into her hallucinations. Emily in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, stayed in isolation to hide away the fact she was a murderer in the name of love. The two protagonists collectively thought they had control of their situation; however, the men in their lives dead or alive, imprinted upon their minds. Neither of the characters have control due to their manipulative and disruptive environments which cause chaos to erupt.

John has complete control over his wife’s life because he manipulates every

Her husband feels that he can fix any problem she has without consulting with her on what she thinks can better her mind. The narrator states, “Personally, I disagree with their ideas. Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good” (Gilman 235). She must internalize what she believes can help her because John will not hear her out on her ideas. John also displays he wants more control over her by removing her from her work and believing she needs nothing but rest to get better. This idea is supported in the text, “Environment as Psychopathological Symbolism in the ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’” by Loralee Macpike. She claims, “Her work is, as he suggests, dangerous; but its danger is for him, not her, because it removes her from his control” (287). John actively shows that he plays into the stereotypical belief that a man’s opinion is more important than a woman’s. He hears what she is saying to him, but he does not acknowledge what she is trying to communicate. By keeping her in a confined space and controlling her actions, he will always know where she is and what she is doing. John even takes away her privileges of where she can stay during her recovery period. The narrator states, “‘You

From an early age, her father had a possessive nature over Emily, and he developed an unhealthy attachment towards her. The narrator states, “We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the backflung front door” (Faulkner 476). He is portrayed as a threatening figure who has a weird obsession with his daughter to the point that she is to stay in the house and not entertain other male figures. He scared away all the love proposals that Emily received so that he could still control what she could and could not do. However, Emily is portrayed as this innocent and frail young lady who could not speak for herself in her father's presence. Readers can suggest, based on his aggressive nature, some sort of abuse could have occurred. The mother was not around and all he had was his daughter, Emily, so Mr. Greison could have developed a fear of losing what he loved so dearly. Bachelor's coming into Emily’s life was the last thing he would have wanted because he develops a serious attachment to her which sticks with her after his death. In the article, “The Structure of ‘A Rose for Emily’” by Floyd Watkins states, “In later life, however, she withdraws more and more until her own death again exposes her to the