Theme Of The Yellow Wallpaper And A Rose For Emily

Until recent times, women have been oppressed in a patriarchal society, leading many women to be unhappy or even go mad. Women were only allowed to do as much as their husbands, or even other men in society, deemed acceptable for them. This foreboding oppression and lack of control is the case in both The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily. Both women become unhinged after they cannot handle the rules of society that must be followed. In both The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily, the main characters face their downfall due to subjugation of being a female in a patriarchal society leading them to go insane and twist their regular world into a fictional one. The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily both start off normally, but from the very beginning it is clear that both Jennie and Emily are controlled by the standards that males set forth for them. In The Yellow Wallpaper, Jennie wants to write and communicate with others, but John considers writing and being around others to contribute to her sickness. Ironically, not being able to write openly and interact with others is making her sicker. She feels oppressed and controlled, but her husband will not listen. Jennie is suffering from postpartum depression after having her baby, but everyone …show more content…
If it were not for the constant control that society brought forth on both Emily and Jennie, they would have been able to life normal lives. Due to the time period both Emily and Jennie lived in, they were not able to be themselves, but instead obedient women. Obedience turned both women into crazy shells of themselves. The ultimate downfall of both women were societal expectations, whether carried out in a good hearted way or not. Jennie’s downfall was due to her husband, even though he meant well, whereas Emily’s downfall was due to society’s perception of how women were supposed to behave, which was carried out by both men and