REPRESSION OF WOMAN IN THE 19th CENTURY

Since the beginning of time, women have been treated as second class citizens. Therefore, women were forced to face many problems. Because of this women were repressed. At that time, the Napoleonic Code stated that women were controlled by their husbands and cannot freely do their own will without the authority of their husband. This paper shows how this is evident in the "Story of an Hour" by Kate Chopin and " A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner. In both stories, the use of literary elements such as foreshadowing, symbolism, and significant meaning of the titles are essential in bringing the reader to an unexpected and ironic conclusion. The background of both authors, which was from the …show more content…

William Faulkner's story "A Rose for Emily" reveals the life of Emily Grierson who lives a secluded life, not leaving her home for over ten years, while also living in a state of madness. The extent of Emily's madness is finally revealed at the end, where it is found that she has been living with the body of her dead boyfriend for years, sleeping next to him. " A Rose" in the title of the story gives significant meaning that represented Death in this story. Nurhayatti 4 Faulkner also makes effective use of symbolism to express the theme, with two of the important symbols being death and taxes. Death features as symbols in the form of Emily's own death, the death of her father and the death of Homer. However, each of these deaths are ones that Emily is not able to accept. Another scene that illustrates Emily's inability to accept death is when she bought the poison. When the druggist asked her what she wants it for, " Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back on order to look him eye for eye, until he looked away and got the arsenic and wrapped it up" (Faulkner 33). It evaluates how by doing so, she erases any hope that she has for getting married