Tradition and Oppression: A Comparative Analysis of The Yellow Wallpaper and A Rose for Emily

In "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner, the authors explore the theme of societal traditions and expectations and how they can negatively impact individuals, especially women. Both stories depict female protagonists who are stifled and oppressed by the rigid gender roles and behavioral norms imposed upon them by their societies. However, while Gilman and Faulkner both critique the damaging effects of tradition, they view the possibility of change somewhat differently. Gilman implies that change is necessary and possible, though difficult, while Faulkner suggests that the weight of tradition is inescapable and insurmountable.

In "The Yellow Wallpaper," the unnamed narrator is subjected to the "rest cure," a common 19th century treatment for women's mental health issues. She is forbidden from engaging in any intellectual activity and is confined to a room with hideous yellow wallpaper. Her husband John, a physician, dismisses her thoughts and desires, believing he knows what is best for her. The expectations of a dutiful wife who submits to her husband's authority, combined with stereotypes around female hysteria, trap the narrator in a state of infantilization and powerlessness. Gilman writes, "He says that with my imaginative power and habit of story-making, a nervous weakness like mine is sure to lead to all manner of excited fancies, and that I ought to use my will and good sense to check the tendency" (648). The patriarchal tradition gives John the right to completely override and invalidate his wife's perspective. Gilman vividly portrays the deterioration of the narrator's mind in the stifling environment she is subjected to, demonstrating the very real harm caused by these oppressive practices.

However, by the end of the story, the narrator has ripped off most of the wallpaper, freeing the woman she imagines is trapped behind it - a clear symbol of her own desire for liberation. She creeps around the room, over her fainted husband, in a moment of triumph and reclaimed agency. While this is far from a happy ending, Gilman does suggest that change is possible, that women can break free from the traditions that bind them. The narrator asserts, "I've got out at last...in spite of you and Jane? And I've pulled off most of the paper, so you can't put me back!" (656). There is a sense of hope amid the tragedy, that the next woman subjected to this "treatment" may have a chance of escaping her oppression. Gilman saw writing as a way to expose injustice and advocate for reform. By publishing this story, she attempts to challenge the tradition of the "rest cure" and the larger web of sexist attitudes it is tangled up with.

In contrast, Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" lacks this note of optimism. The protagonist, Miss Emily Grierson, is shaped and ultimately destroyed by the traditions of the Old South. The town sees her as "a fallen monument" of southern aristocracy (Faulkner 119). She is expected to conform to the ideal of the southern lady - pure, delicate, and chaste. When her lover Homer Barron is seen entering her house unchaperoned, the townspeople are scandalized, sending ministers to talk with her female relatives. The narrator notes, "the ladies all said, 'Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer.' But there were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige" (124). Emily is trapped by these strict expectations of propriety and class. Rather than lose her reputation and her place in society, Emily appears to kill Homer, keeping his corpse in her bed as she sleeps beside it for decades.

Unlike the ending of "The Yellow Wallpaper," which shows the narrator breaking free, the revelation of Emily's necrophilia only confirms how utterly tradition has warped and ruined her life. The thick dust that coats everything in her house, the "invisible watch ticking at the end of the gold chain" (128) symbolizes the inescapable weight of time and custom bearing down on her. Faulkner does not seem to see much possibility for change. Even after Emily's death, the town remains haunted by the "long-standing debt" (119) of the past. The traditions of the Old South live on, as oppressive and stifling as ever.

Part of this difference in perspective may come from the authors' different backgrounds and aims. Gilman was a prominent feminist activist who explicitly wrote "The Yellow Wallpaper" to condemn the sexist treatment of women by the medical establishment. Her story is a passionate work of advocacy, meant to raise awareness and promote progress. Faulkner, on the other hand, was a modernist writer grappling with the decline of the Old South. He saw the southern aristocracy as tragically unable to adapt to a changing world. While critical of southern society's backwardness, Faulkner is also eerily fatalistic about the possibility of moving beyond it. This is not to say that Faulkner endorses the traditions he writes about, but rather that he sees them as so deeply ingrained as to be almost inescapable.

Personally, I agree more with Gilman's assessment that oppressive traditions can and should be challenged and changed. While breaking free from societal expectations is undoubtedly difficult, as the narrator's struggle in "The Yellow Wallpaper" shows, it is still a worthwhile and necessary pursuit. The alternative, as Emily's story illustrates, is a kind of living death, a suffocating existence defined by repression and denial. Challenging tradition is not about disrespecting the past, but about critically examining which customs are harmful and outdated. This can be done through activism, education, and the kind of consciousness-raising that Gilman endeavors in her story.

That is not to underestimate the difficulty of change. Faulkner's pessimism about the intractability of tradition is not unfounded. Societal expectations have a way of reproducing and enforcing themselves, even as the world around them changes. But this only makes the task of reform more crucial. The ghosts of oppressive traditions will continue to haunt us, as they haunt Emily, unless we actively work to exorcise them. This work can take many forms, from the personal, as in the narrator's individual act of rebellion, to the political, as in Gilman's attempt to reach a wider audience and shift public consciousness. Only by consistently challenging the status quo can we hope to break free from the patterns of the past.

In conclusion, both "The Yellow Wallpaper" and "A Rose for Emily" offer powerful critiques of the way societal traditions can trap and harm individuals, particularly women. While Gilman sees some hope for change through resistance and advocacy, Faulkner presents a bleaker view of the inescapable weight of custom. Ultimately, I believe that while challenging tradition is undeniably hard, it is both possible and necessary if we want to create a more just and equitable society. As these stories show, the alternative is a kind of spiritual and moral decay, a haunted existence that serves no one. Change may be slow and difficult, but it is the only way forward.