Women, Individuality and Insanity

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner and "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The paper shows how these stories examine the identity of women in nineteenth-century American society, including the relationship between men and women, the repression of female individuality and the symbolism used to emphasize these issues. The paper illustrates how Emily in "A Rose for Emily" and the narrator in "The Yellow Wallpaper" sacrifice their sanity in their attempts to attain individuality.

From the Paper:

"Insanity becomes apparent for Miss Emily after the death of her father. This great loss causes her to distance herself from reality. She is seen by the townspeople as an individual who has sank into a deep mental depression. She locks herself away from the rest of the world and refuses to take a role in society. No one calls on her and she does not attempt to change her lifestyle. Emily continues to fall deeper into a world of insanity. The shocking discovery that she kept the body of Homer, her lover, in the house did not diminish the townspeople's feelings of obligation. They attended her funeral in numbers and buried her among the "ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate Solders." (p.391)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Boston, New York: Bedford/St. Martin's, 2007.

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• Analytical Essay # 4955 : "The Portrayal of Women in "Hamlet"
• Analytical Essay # 129391 : "Women Immigrants and Labour Choices"

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