Compare and Contrast Essay Sample: Rose for Emily and Story of an Hour

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, female protagonists were rare since males more often than not, dominated in every aspect of life at that time. As a result, stories with female protagonists were often either not recognized or not popular. However, the female-led stories that did receive recognition, made a great impact in literature as they offered a new perspective on writing. Furthermore, the gender of the author influences how the female protagonist is portrayed in the story. For example, in William Faulkner's short story called "A Rose for Emily", the protagonist Emily is written and described as a stubborn and bizarre woman who was pitied by all of the townspeople. Whereas, in Kate Chopin's short story "Story of an Hour", the protagonist Louise was portrayed as an intelligent woman who was stuck in a loveless marriage. Both protagonists experience death in their families, isolate themselves and are in non-traditional relationships. 

There are numerous common themes throughout both short stories. The most significant one being the death of an important male figure in the protagonists' life and how it affects them. In Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily '', Emily experiences numerous deaths in her life and is in denial about all of them. For example, when asked to pay her taxes, she tells the sheriff  "Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff … I have no taxes in Jefferson'' (page 87).  The townspeople quickly realize that Emily had been in denial of Colonel Sartoris' death for over a decade because she wholeheartedly believes that she does not have to pay taxes since Colonel Sartoris said so plenty of years ago. Her father, whom she was very close to, and her lover, Homer Barron, both passed away as well. In both instances, Emily struggles to move on and accept the fact that they are truly gone so her reactions to their deaths are deemed socially unacceptable as she physically can not let herself grieve. Constantly being in a state of denial causes Emily to act out which leads the townspeople to think she is insane. In "Story of an Hour", Louise finds out about her husband’s death and has an unusual reaction, as Emily did as well. Instead of mourning the loss of her husband as nearly all spouses would do, Louise cries once and locks herself in a room while looking out a window, “But now there was a dull stare in her eyes whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky" (page 27). Louise is ecstatic and has a sense of relief when she hears of her husband’s passing because she believes that she is now able to live life to the fullest and start doing things for herself for a change. Unlike "A Rose for Emily", this story is written in a way that demonstrates how a woman does not need to rely on men to be happy and successful. The way the authors depicted the female protagonist in their short stories differs dramatically because “A Rose for Emily” was written by a man and “Story of an Hour” was written by a woman. Emily’s character was portrayed to be a woman who simply could not exist without a key male figure in her life and when she did lose that male figure, Emily lost grasp on herself and went crazy. By writing her character the way the author did, he wanted to show a woman’s extreme dependency on a male figure and how their life could not go on without one in it. Whereas in “Story of an Hour” written by a woman, the female protagonist is portrayed as a more independent, free, and capable person even after losing that crucial male figure in her life. After losing her husband, Louise thinks about her future, more specifically, "Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own" (Chopin 28). The two short stories differ tremendously in terms of how each female protagonist dealt with the loss of a male figure and the reason that is, is because one was written through the male perspective and the other a woman’s perspective.

Isolation is another common theme one can find in both short stories. Both protagonists isolate themselves from the rest of the world once they discover about their loved one's death. Emily isolates herself for decades. Throughout the story, the narrator talks about how Emily often stayed inside of her house while a Negro man would go into town for her. In fact, she could sometimes be seen sitting motionless through a window. Furthermore, her entire life, her father had isolated her. The narrator mentions "None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such" (Faulkner 88). This resulted in her being even more secluded from the rest of society as she could not participate in normal activities like dating. In addition, she refused to let the down fasten metal numbers above her door when the town got free postal delivery; officially completely cutting off communication from the rest of the world. The only times when she was not confining herself in her house was when she was with her father or Homer. It was so uncommon to see Emily leave her house that when she was outside, the townspeople would often stare at her and whisper to each other. On the other hand, although there is not much background on Louise's life, it appears that she led a normal life. However, after learning about her husband's death she locks herself in a room to process the information she had just learned. "Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole imploring for admission. 'Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door'"(Chopin 28). In addition, her relief makes her feel guilty, which causes her to hide from others so that no one will be able to see her true feelings about her husband's death. Unlike Emily, she was only alone for an hour. In that hour, Louise experiences pure happiness and freedom. She uses her isolation in a way that will improve her life whereas Emily became fat and ill by isolating herself.  

Nowadays, marriage is becoming less common but during the period when both short stories were written, it was a social requirement. Since Emily was not allowed to date while her father was still alive, she stayed single until she was in her 30s. She met Homer and started being seen around with him. Everyone believed they would get married however it was common knowledge that Homer is gay. This does not stop Emily from buying a silver toilet set with his initials and men's clothing. This has created a lot of rumors and numerous townspeople attempt to end their relationship as it was nontraditional. "The men did not want to interfere, but at last the ladies forced the Baptist minister -- Miss Emily's people were Episcopal -- to call upon her" (Faulkner 90).  Their attempt fails and Emily and Homer spend the rest of their lives together until both of them die. Women did not have very much freedom in what they were allowed to do in their daily lives as they had a great number of social expectations to uphold. The short story "Girl" by Jamaica Kincaid reveals all of the roles of being a woman. "This is how you set the table for tea; this is how you set the table for dinner; this is how you set a table for dinner with an important guest; this is how you set a table for lunch;" (Kincaid 2). There were countless other expectations women had to fulfill whether they liked it or not. Any woman who was polite and intelligent knew it was necessary to live life according to all of these regulations. For example, being a mother and creating a family was crucial in traditional marriages, especially in the late 1800s. However, this was not what Louise wanted. In fact, "She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long"(Chopin 28). Her life with her husband felt like an obligation and the narrator infers that she would've been a lot happier if she never needed to get married. Kate Chopin's life greatly influenced the way "Story of an Hour" was written. According to The Broadview Introduction of Literature, Chopin first started writing after her husband passed away. Just like Louise, Chopin was stuck in a marriage where she could not live life as she wanted. As a result, as soon as she became a widow, she was able to accomplish things that made her truly happy. 

William Faulkner's short story "A Rose for Emily" and Kate Chopin's short story "Story of an Hour" both have powerful female protagonists that endure the death of their loved ones which results in periods of isolation all while being in non-traditional marriages. Both authors used their life experiences to influence their writing.