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Tanya Caswell
English 1118
April 3, 2011
Character and Setting Comparison
“A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner, and “The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin
In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Chopin’s “The story of an Hour”, the
reader is given a observation in to the two lives of old, sick women living in two different
worlds, than from reality of others, but sharing many similar characteristics. An analysis of “The
Story of an Hour”, and “A Rose for Emily”, reveals a clear comparison between Chopin's and
Faulkner's use of setting and character. The houses and character description are elements of
setting utilized by both authors, while attitudes towards love and attitudes towards death are
aspects of character utilized by each author.
Character Comparison
Love
In the comparison of “A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner, and “The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin,
attitudes towards love are aspects of character utilized by each author. Louise wants are partially
revealed in the story. Throughout the story, she believes her husband’s death will set her free,
and never considers her the role her illness plays, or takes responsibility for her own willingness
to be cared for instead of taking care of herself. The entire story is centered on her life and the
events that happen to her, revolving around her relationship and love for her husband. She
undergoes dynamic change, most of which does not show on her face. Perhaps no one has known

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what she is thinking for a very long time. Mrs. Mallard had a heart condition, which made her
health fragile. It is also possible that because of her heart, she has been protected from life for a
long time. Her husband’s death is a reality that must be shared. She wants to be an independent
woman. She believes she does not want to have to rely on anyone. Louise wants to live her life in
the way that she wants, and not have to answer to anyone. She wants, “spring days, and summer
days, and all sorts of days that would be her own”. Chopin’s has the reader believing that Louise
was once in love with her husband, but now wants to be on her own. “Her stories about strong
women have really been paid attention to in relation to this century’s sexual liberation debate”
(Analyze av Kate Chopin’s novella "). Also Chopin’s writing referred to, “Chopin's feminism
certainly is a major theme, but an instructor must be careful not to overstate it. Chopin seems to
have believed that men and women alike have great difficulty reconciling their need to live as
discrete individuals with their need to live in close relationship with a mate; these conflicting
needs lie at the center of her work” (Peggy Skaggs), which was closely related to her story, ‘The
Story of an Hour”.
“A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner, is not set in the same structure, but has the same meaning.
Emily seems that she is in love with Homer, but then something may have changed her mind and
she did not want him around anymore. Emily motives were unclear throughout the story. Was
she looking for love? Was she a cold hearted murderer? Clues were given to make the reader
explore her attentions. Article myriad’s article follows these claims, “Miss Emily’s erratic and
idiosyncratic behavior becomes outright bizarre, and the reader, like the townspeople in the
story, is left wondering how to explain the fact that Miss Emily has spent years living and
sleeping with the corpse of Homer Barron” (Article myriad).

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The town seemed to be concerned on Emily’s love life, “So when she got to be thirty and was
still single…”Everyone in the town, including the narrator, was worried about when and who she
was going to marry. As is Faulkner’s writing, “The South is a place where community and social
structure influence a person's life heavily. Faulkner, from his own Southern upbringing,
understood this and used this theme over and over again in his work’ ( UNCP ). In Emily’s time,
women were expected to marry, raise children, and make their husbands happy. This maybe why
everyone is worried about Emily’s life. Emily was not seen as normal women should have been
seen. Where’s Louise’s relationship, everyone thought of it as a normal relationship, except for
Louise.
In paragraph 44, William Faulkner adds clues to Emily’s relationship with Homer
Barron. The town said she will marry him, or Emily will persuade him yet. Why would she have
to persuade him? Does she need to be told what to do in her own life? The town makes it seem as
Emily cannot do anything on her own. The town is obsessed with the fact that Emily and Homer
are together, or are they not together. In paragraph 15, states that Emily had a long time
sweetheart that left her. Emily may still have feelings for this man. Emily may have been in love
with her sweetheart, than he broke her heart. Was she taking that anger out on other men
(Homer). Was she afraid of getting hurt again?
Stories, “A Rose for Emily”, and “The Story of an Hour”, the motivations for the characters
towards love was unclear. Both women seemed that they wanted to be in love, as for Louise she
married a man, so she was at one point in love with him. Emily, throughout the stories referred to
her wanting love and looking for love. By the end of the stories, both women had ended their
relationship with love. Both stories ended the relationship with their death. Both authors wrote
stories that affected their personal lives. Chopin writing reflected the century that she lived

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in; “In 1975 Susan Cahill called the story "one of feminism's sacred texts," and many readers
have since concluded that Kate Chopin's sensitivity to what it sometimes feels like to be a
woman is on prominent display in this work—as it is in The Awakening. Chopin's often-
celebrated yearning for freedom is also on display here—as is her sense of ambiguity and her
complex way of seeing life. It's typical of her to note that it is both "men and women" who
"believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature"(TH E K ATE
CHO PIN IN TERN A TIO N A L SO CIETY).
D e ath
In the comparison of “A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner, and “The Story of an Hour”, by
Chopin, attitudes towards death are aspects of character utilized by each author. Both of the
stories start with love than end up in death. In “The story of an hour”, Louise was the one that
had died. In the stories “A Rose for Emily”, the author throws a twist to death with the one that
she appears to be in love with dies followed by her death.
The American society of Authors and writers revealed, “One of Faulkner's primary themes is the
abuse of blacks by the Southern whites. Because his novels treat the decay and anguish of the
South following the Civil War, they are rich in violent and sordid events. But they are grounded
in a profound and compassionate humanism that celebrates the tragedy, energy, and humor of
ordinary human life“(American Society of Authors and writer).
“The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin, Louise Mallard changes significantly throughout the course
of the story. She went from being hurt by her husband’s death, to slowly changing her mind
about how she feels. Louise starts to realize that she is now on her own, and free, at last. As any
women would feel, “She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister’s arms.” At

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this point in the story Louise Mallard seems to react as many women would when finding out
that their husband has died. The feel of being alone, abandoned, and lost. As the story goes on,
Louise Mallard feelings seem to change, change in an unexpected way, a way that most women
do not react. Louise starts to feel that she is a free, single, and independent. Following,” Women
had, as aforementioned, literally no rights whatsoever at the time this short-story was put on
paper. The situation has changed almost dramatically today. This short-story was written at a
time where it was common sense and tradition that women were inferior to men in status and
opportunities” (Analyze av Kate Chopin’s novella).
Louise expresses this well, confidently, “She said it over and over under her breath.” Free, free,
free!”, “Free! Body and soul free!” She believes she does not want to have to rely on anyone.
Saying that, “Mrs. Mallard gets in touch with life, starts to hear sounds and to smell scents which
she didn't feel before. Why? What happened? Does she really start to notice it all only after her
husband's death? Yes, and the author gives us even more details, emphasizing it, not yet giving
the answer why she starts to feel this way” (Hellum).
Louise wants to live her life in the way that she wants, and not have to answer to anyone. She
wants, “spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own”. This shows
that Louise may have not been happy in her marriage. Perhaps that care she received from her
husband because of her illness restricted her. Being shielded from everyday life stifled her. She
may have felt tied down, and lonely. She was unable to do what she had wanted to do all of her
life. Now she has the rest of her life to be able to be independent.
In the story, “A Rose for Emily”, her motive was not as clear as what Emily wanted and felt
towards Homer. Paragraph 60, reveals clues leading to Emily’s motivation towards death. Emily

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had set up a bridal room, “…Everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal:
upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing
table, upon the delicate array of crystals and the man’s toilet things backed with tarnished
silver…” . Emily wanted to get married, perhaps to Homer. She had all the items needed for her
wedding, but without the groom. By having the curtains faded, she had this room set up for
awhile. Finding Homer in her house dead, “A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb…”, and in a room
reveals that she wanted him around until she died. She may have wanted him to marry her, and
he didn’t want to, so she killed him. He could have died of natural causes, and she wanted to
keep him around, because she was scared o be alone. As far as we know Emily was an only
child, and had no children of her own. Emily was never married, so she didn’t have the chance to
have children. There may be some resentment there or maybe she did not want any children, so
she did not marry.
Both of the character in these stories had a clear relationship to death. Louise died at the end of
the story after seeing her not dead husband, and Emily died at the end of the story, perhaps
killing her loved one.
Setting Comparison
“The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin and “A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner
In both of the stories; “A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner and “The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin,
the authors uses setting to enhance their stories. The houses and character description is an
important element to both characters in both of the stories, “A Rose for Emily”, by Faulkner and
“The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin.

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House
Both authors in the stories, “The Story of an Hour”, and “A Rose for Emily”, the house is
significant meaning to the characters setting. Louise Mallard uses the items in her house as well
as the weather towards her description. First of all, maybe the most important, the chair. The
chair represents the future of Louise’s life, a life that was once sheltered and controlled. As the
character looks at the chair she notices that it was roomy, like her life is going to be, without her
husband. As she sank into the chair she felt comfortable, relieved, and free. Propaganda gave
hinds relating this topic, “When she is in her room, she is characterized as an intelligent, strong,
but also a repressed woman. We get hints of her being trapped in an unhappy marriage, which
was usual at that time” (Propaganda).
The physical exhaustion that was haunting her body that would not let her go was finally gone.
There was nothing that could stop her. Chopin makes sure that the reader under stands the chair,
“There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank,
pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her
soul.” The physical exhaustion that was haunting her body that would not let her go was finally
gone. “The fourth paragraph’s content, which revolves around the period of time where Louise
has just entered her room, is fairly surprising. Everyone would expect Louise to weep with agony
and pain, but instead she sits calmly down: "There stood, facing an open window, a comfortable,
roomy armchair." The interested reader will already here discover that something is terribly
wrong, since a word like comfortable is used. A newly widowed woman would probably not
look upon a chair as comfortable shortly after receiving the terrible news; the most likely
reaction would rather be to smash the chair into pieces” (Analyze av Kate Chopin’s novella).

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There was nothing that could stop her. As Louise looked out the window she noticed how the
clouds meet and piled one above the other. Chopin express this, “There were patches of blue sky
showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the
west facing her window w.” The clouds represent how Louise life is going to be organized and
free. As seasons change, new life arises. Her life is budding; a new life rises. Louise is starting
her new life, as she wants it. As Louise looks out the window, “She could see in the open square
before her house the tops of the trees that were all aquiver with new spring life.” A life that
once was winter, cold and lonely when she was unable to leave the house is changing to a new
spring life, colorful, open, and beautiful.
In the stories “A Rose for Emily”, not much detail was revealed about her house, but what was
said had great meaning. Faulkner tone toward Emily’s house was meaningful, "It was a big,
squarish frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled
balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most
select street.” which made the readers have a visual of her old house. Faulkner used in his
writing items that were related to his personal life. Miss Emily’s house maybe a replica of
Faulkner’s house during his marriage.
Faulkner uses his life in his stories, “In 1929, Faulkner married Estelle Oldham Franklin, his
childhood sweetheart, who had recently been divorced. The following year, the young couple
purchased a traditional Southern pillared house in Oxford, which he named Rowan Oak. It was
typically ornate, with immaculate grounds and mature trees. Architecture was important to the
author. He restored Rowan Oak to its previous glory, named some of his books after various
buildings (The Mansion), and depicted them in his writings with great care and deliberation”
(American Society of Authors and writer).

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Miss Emily’s house had mysterious meaning to the town, and to the reader. The house was
significant in Emily’s life, “After her father passed away, she fell in love with a Yankee named
Homer, rebelling against the traditions her father upheld. Emily greatly deteriorated after
Homer’s death and became a mysterious recluse to the townspeople – a woman holed up in a
once magnificent house that occasionally omitted a strange smell and whose only visible resident
was a black butler. ” (A Rose For Emily: A Character Study)
Emily’s house took after what her life meant, “Faulkner begins his tale at the end: after learning
of Miss Emily’s death, we catch a glimpse of her dwelling, itself a reflection of its late owner.
The house lifts “its stubborn and coquettish decay” above new traditions just as its spinster is
seen to do, “an eyesore among eyesores” (MR Renaissance)
Character description
Character description is an important element to both characters in both of the stories, “A Rose
for Emily”, by Faulkner and “The Story of an Hour”, by Chopin; William Faulkner uses
character description in detail in Emily’s appearance. In The beginning of the story, the town
seems to convey her as beautiful, magnificent, popular women. “Everyone went to her funeral.”
When you think of someone that everyone wants to see, you think of someone with some great
importance .Faulkner’s writing style, “master of a rhetoric, highly symbolic style” (A Glimpse
into the writing style of William Faulkner), used it many of his stories. Paragraph 6, William
Faulkner speaks of Emily Roses appearance, “Her skeleton was small and despair, perhaps
that’s why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her”, by
describing her as a small, fat, women in black. The description of Emily is very
unfavorable. “Miss Emily “had grown fat and her hair was turning gray” (Faulkner 2164). This

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failure to attend to her personal appearance and to perform what mental health practitioners call
the “tasks of daily living” (Article myriad).
Stating that she wore black, may reflect that she could reveal that she was a cold hearted
woman. The description appears to have all negative statement about Emily, portraying her to be
unpleasurable, unwanted or even evil. Emily maybe over weight because, “…She no longer went
out at all.” Emily never left her house, and always had her servant go out shopping for her.
Emily’s description was very detailed, “In the opening characterization, many descriptive words
foreshadow the ultimate irony at the climatic ending: “her skeleton was small and sparse,” “she
looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water and of that pallid hue” (667).
We learn that “her voice was dry and cold” and that she did not accept no for an answer (667).
Her house, a fading photograph, “smelled of dust and disuse—a closed, dank smell,” and when
her guests are seated a “faint dust” rises “sluggishly about their thighs” (667). All of these terms
suggest neglect, decay, entropy: each of these elements tie in with the surface layer as well as the
deeper themes upon which Faulkner tiers” (MR Renaissance).
In paragraph 6, William explores Emily’s eyes. Eyes that was lost in the fatty ridges of her face.
There is mystery in her eyes, “Her eyes, lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small
pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the
visitors started their errands”, mystery that she does not want anyone to uncover.
In paragraph 59, William Faulkner uses explicit detail in Emily Roses appearance. Emily became
thinner that she has been before. It was stated that she had been sick, that maybe why she is
thinner. Emily could have been under some stress. Emily may have started losing weight when
she meets Homer Barron. Emily’s eyes were cold, and black. By this statement appears to

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Emily’s evil, lonely, and controlled life. Faulkner uses hidden clues, “It would seem that
Faulkner is trying to tell us something on another level if we will pay careful attention. Is Emily
a portrait, a tableau vivant of a past that clings on in its own tenacious ways, disturbing the
otherwise tranquil flow of the future” (MR Renaissance)
While Faulkner used character description a lot in his stories, Chopin did not. What Chopin used
for description in his stories, “The Story of an Hour”, was very detailed and meaningful towards
Louise Mallard. The physical description of Louise Mallard is very brief, but, yet says so much
about her. Chopin makes sure the reader knows the appearance of Louise, “She was young, with
fair, calm face, whose lines bespoken repression and even certain strength.”The lines that
bespoken, since we know she is young, allow the reader to see the stress that she has gone
through. The stress that has held back her from being independent, and living life as she wants.
The calm face shows that she is a gentle, caring, soft woman.
In conclusion, In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Chopin’s “The story of an
Hour”, the reader is given a observation in to the two lives of old, sick women living in two
different worlds, than from reality of others, but sharing many similar characteristics. An
analysis of “The Story of an Hour”, and “A Rose for Emily”, reveals a clear comparison between
Chopin's and Faulkner's use of setting and character. The houses and character description are
elements of setting utilized by both authors, while attitudes towards love and attitudes towards
death are aspects of character utilized by each author. Both characters, Emily, and Louise, have
a secret than not one knows.

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Work Cited
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Faulkner, NA, April 01 2011.
< ww.articlemyriad.com/rose_emily_analysis.htm>
NA.A Rose for Emily and Other Short Stories Characters, NA, April 02 2011.
<http://www.gradesaver.com/short-stories-of-william-faulkner/study-guide/character-list/>
NA. A Rose for Emily: A Character Study. NA. April 01 2011.
<http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/45120.html>
Eric Knickerbocker, MR Renaissance. March 15, 2003. April 01 2011.
<http://www.mrrena.com/misc/emily.shtml>
American Society of Authors and writer. N.d. April 02 2011.
<http://www.amsaw.org/amsaw-ithappenedinhistory-092503-faulkner.html>
K a t e C ho p in. o r g, THE K ATE CHO PIN IN TERN ATIO N A L SO CIETY.

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Analyze av Kate Chopin’s novella "The Story of an Hour", n.d. April 04 2011.
<http://www.daria.no/skole/?tekst=150>
Natalia Dagenhart, Hellum: American Literature. March 11, 2008. April 02 2011.
<http://www.helium.com/items/921234-literary-analysis-the-story-of-an-hour-by-kate-chopin>
Hannah Weinstock, Propaganda. 2007. April 01 2011.
<http://www.propaganda.net/skoleside/?stil=7887>
Bleikastan, Andre. The Ink of the Melancholy. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1990.
April 05 2011.
<http://www.uncp.edu/home/canada/work/canam/faulkner.htm>
Lauren H , A Glimpse into the writing style of William Faulkner, Flower Mound, TX. N.d. April
03 2011.
http://www.epinions.com/book-review-52A3-DC45C5E-38EBD686-prod2
The Mississippi writers page, William Faulkner. N.d. April 04 2011.
http://www.olemiss.edu/mwp/dir/faulkner_william/

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Peggy Skaggs, George town. N.d. April 10 2011.
<http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/bassr/heath/syllabuild/iguide/chopin.html>