Symbolism In A Rose For Emily And The Yellow Wallpaper

William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, and Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper,” are two well known short stories of the 1800’s that incorporate qualities of similarities and differences. These two short stories are full of tradition, and the oppression over women’s rights while also focusing on how and why a woman changed from loneliness to madness. Solitude is forced upon both women due to the era and the men in their lives. Emily’s father stops her from finding partners while, the husband of Gilman’s narrator isolates her from the outside world including family. Eventually, Emily transformed into a hermit trapped in a home, and the narrator in Gilman’s story becomes a delusional woman confined to her yellow wallpapered bedroom. These stories both entail numerous similarities in the characterization, setting, and symbolism. A major difference of these two short stories is the point of view they are written in. “A Rose for …show more content…
Symbols are further expressive as detailed images and illustrated ideas then mainly using statements. These stories used an enormous amount of symbolism in the setting of the houses. In “The Yellow Wallpaper”, the narrator is imprisoned, unable to achieve control over her mind, and the structure of the house and its surroundings allows the readers to see this "there are hedges and walls and gates that lock, and lots of separate little houses for the gardeners and people...I never saw such a garden - large and shady, full of box-bordered paths." Everything is separated and divided, boxed in, and locked like a prison, the author is trying to paint a picture to the readers saying that she is held captive in her room. The house itself seems like a manly house, larger-than-life mansions are typically symbols of masculine aggression and competitiveness, while its being a "hereditary estate" reminds us it was probably passed down to men in the