The female protagonist in “The Story of an Hour” and “A Rose for Emily” share a struggle of being their own person. During this time, women face limitations in a society that hold them back. Louise Mallard and Emily Grierson share similarities of being under the control of men, the time period, and the idea of repression.
First of all, in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard is a woman who longs to get away from her marriage. In the beginning, Louise finds out that her husband has passed away in a railroad accident. and she finally feels freedom as a result. Her “gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky” (Chopin 278). When she looks out into the sky, she sees the hope of a new life. The tragedy was a blessing for her yearn for independence. Following this, in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Emily …show more content…
Louise feels repression from her husband, and Emily feels it by her father’s standards. Chopin states, “There would be no powerful will bending [Louise’s] in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (Chopin 279). Louise is in an era where her husband has trapped her from being herself. She does not want to be obligated to live for someone else. In Faulkner’s story, the townspeople recall “all the young men [Emily’s] father had driven away” (Faulkner 302). She always listens to her father’s commands and does not know what to do when he dies. It drives her to obsess over Homer and eventually kill him. This affects both of the women to make them go insane.
Clearly, both characters, Louise, of "The Story of an Hour" and, Emily, from "A Rose for Emily” show how two women who are lost in a world created by society. They are obligated to hold up to a standard that neither of them wants. In the end, both men in their lives result in their
First of all, in Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour,” Louise Mallard is a woman who longs to get away from her marriage. In the beginning, Louise finds out that her husband has passed away in a railroad accident. and she finally feels freedom as a result. Her “gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky” (Chopin 278). When she looks out into the sky, she sees the hope of a new life. The tragedy was a blessing for her yearn for independence. Following this, in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Emily …show more content…
Louise feels repression from her husband, and Emily feels it by her father’s standards. Chopin states, “There would be no powerful will bending [Louise’s] in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature” (Chopin 279). Louise is in an era where her husband has trapped her from being herself. She does not want to be obligated to live for someone else. In Faulkner’s story, the townspeople recall “all the young men [Emily’s] father had driven away” (Faulkner 302). She always listens to her father’s commands and does not know what to do when he dies. It drives her to obsess over Homer and eventually kill him. This affects both of the women to make them go insane.
Clearly, both characters, Louise, of "The Story of an Hour" and, Emily, from "A Rose for Emily” show how two women who are lost in a world created by society. They are obligated to hold up to a standard that neither of them wants. In the end, both men in their lives result in their