A Comparison between “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wall—paper” in the perspective of Gothic stories

Xu+Xinrui

William Faulkners Gothic story “A Rose for Emily” written in collective voice is about a horrible story of the last heir of the Griersons as well as an old virgin， Miss Emily Grierson， who poisons her lover—Homer Barron to death and has slept with his body for many years. Presented in the first person narrative， Charlotte Perkins Gilmans short story “The Yellow Wall-paper” mainly depicts a woman who gets obsessed with the pattern and color of the yellow wall-paper in her room and later descends into psychosis. Gothic stories are tales of mystery and horror with settings that are usually isolated， closed interspaces such as old houses. Besides， Gothic stories tend to portray characters of abnormal psychology. Both of these two stories can be regarded as Gothic stories.

Firstly， these two short stories have similar settings—ancient and secluded houses. In “A Rose for Emily”， Miss Emily lives in a typical Gothic style architecture in a “style of the seventies” with “dim hall”， “faint dust”and decrepit furniture （Faulkner 286）. It reveals that the house she resides in is very ancient with gloomy atmosphere. Besides， being the only one surrounded by “garages and cotton gins”， her house is quite alone on that street since there is no other house nearby（Faulkner 286）. In “The Yellow Wall-paper”， the colonial mansion rented by the protagonist is “a hereditary estate” passed down from ancestors， so this sentence suggests that the house has a long history （Gilman 154）. The fact that house is “quite alone， standing well back from the road， quite three miles from the village” indicates that it is situated in an out-of-the-way place with inconvenient traffic （Gilman 155）.

Apart from the similar settings， both of the two characters lead an isolated life. In “A Rose for Emily”， Miss Emily is so determined to seclude herself from the outside world that she refuses to have the metal numbers fasten above her door when the town gets postal delivery. For many years， her front door remains closed after her lover Homer Barrons death， and her only connection with the townspeople is the Negro in her house. When the government people come to her house for imposing tax， she turns them away in a tough manner. She refuses to have any connection with the people in town， and she is reluctant to keep abreast with the time， too. Being obsessed with the old Southern tradition， she voluntarily chooses to live in isolation and loneliness.

In “The Yellow Wall-paper”， the protagonist is hardly allowed to “stir without special direction” of her husband because of her mental illness （Gilman 156）. During her three-month stay there， she only has a little contact with her husband and housekeeper apart from the short visit from her relatives. Her only interest is the yellow wall-paper in her room， and she spends much time on observing it. In addition to that， she can only secretly write diary to record her daily life. Therefore， her life is confined in a small “nursery at the top of the house”， in other words， she is almost completely cut off from the outside world （Gilman 156）. Consequently， these two characters hardly have any contact with the outside world， leading a life of seclusion and loneliness.

Moreover， these two protagonists both have mental illnesses， and their illnesses gradually become more and more severe. In “A Rose for Emily”， apart from her personality of alienation mentioned before， Emily has necrophilia and she even murders her lover. For one thing， Emily does not allow others to dispose her fathers body after her fathers death. She dresses “as usual and with no trace of grief on her face”， arguing that her father is still alive （Faulkner 288）. At that moment， she has already become slightly obsessed with corpse. And after Emilys death， people find “a long strand of iron-gray hair” from Miss Emily beside Homer Barrons body （Faulkner 292）. This scene is a strong proof of the deterioration of her necrophilia. It also creates a sense of great horror because she keeps Homer Barrons body in her house and even sleeps with him for forty years. This is a deed that a normal person can hardly understand， since only a person who is extremely obsessed with corpse will do that. For another， her strong desire to be in possession is another aspect of her mental illness. In order to possess “perpetual love”， she even buys arsenic to kill her lover， Homer Barren. And in her perspective， only the death is eternal and completely under her control， so she uses this extreme approach to pursue her love.

In “The Yellow Wall-paper”， the protagonist suffers from depression， because of which she is confined in the room upstairs. At first， she is disgusted by the horrid paper in her room， but she cannot help observing it. In her perspective， the pattern looks like “a broken neck and two bulbous eyes” （Gilman 158）. She uses many incredible words to describe the wall-paper， and most of them are terrifying and grotesque images. Gradually， the protagonist becomes obsessed with the wall-paper. After long-tine observation， she “finds out” that inside the pattern there is a woman who might come out. This wall-paper is becoming the only focus of her life as her mental illness worsens. After “seeing” the woman behind the paper creeping， the protagonist strips the wall-paper to help her get out of it. Besides， she even believes that her husband and her housekeeper are “secretly affected by” the wall-paper （Gilman 169）. But in fact， they view this wall-paper just as a normal paper. Hence， we can be sure that her disease is very severe since her abnormal behaviors and unrealistic imaginations are becoming more evident. At last， she says， “I wonder if they all come out of that wall-paper as I did” （Gilman 170）. Apparently， she already regards herself as a woman getting out of that wall-paper. At this point， she is completely deranged and unable to distinguish reality from illusion. Moreover， the scene that the protagonist is creeping in her room climaxes the story， creating an atmosphere of horror.

To conclude， “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wall-paper” have much in common from the view of Gothic writing style. These two short stories both have settings of ancient and isolated houses in which the protagonists live a life of seclusion. Besides， these two protagonists have mental illnesses which gradually go from bad to worse. Furthermore， both of the stories create an atmosphere of horror.

References：

[1]Faulkner，William.“A Rose for Emily.” The Story and Its Writer.Ann Charters.Boston，New York：Bedford Books of St.Martin's Press，2007.286-292.

[2]Gilman，Charlotte Perkins.“The Yellow Wall-paper.” Modern English Short Stories.Miao Ren，Bing Wang.Shenyang：Liaoning Peoples Publishing House，2013.154-170.