Reading literature, at first, may seem like simple stories. However, in works like William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily," Katherine Mansfield's "Miss Brill," and Kate Chopin's "The Storm," the female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of towards women simply because of their sex. William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily, the story begins with a marked division between the motivations of men and women: "The men from a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mainly from curiosity" (Faulkner 121). ). At Emily's funeral, the narrator names the men in the category of attendants out of respect, and the women present simply because they are curious and inquisitive. The immediate distinctive division between men and women suggests that the story has a "stance toward patriarchal societal structures" (Curry) in which men are dignified and women superficial. Another example of how women are treated as less than average men is when the women complain about the smell of Emily's house but are not taken seriously until a man complains; women are portrayed as unknown. Although Faulkner compares jurisdiction between men and women, the main element of the story lies in the expectations society has of a "lady" (Curry). Even after men and women complain about the smell of Emily's house, confronting Emily about it would invalidate her status as a woman; “a 'lady' would not have such a house” (Curry). In a patriarchal society, the goal is never to destroy a woman. In such a society, women have the right to act in a certain way. Later in the story, Emily is able to illegally purchase arsenic for no good reason, but the cashier assumes she is committing suicide. After Homer, Emily'...... middle of paper ...... uh, Martha J. "Losing the battle but winning the war: resistance to patriarchal discourse in Kate Chopin's short fiction." » Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers 11.1 (1994): 17-36. Rep. In News Criticism. Ed. Joseph Palmisano. Vol 68. Detriot: Gale, 2004. Literary Resource Center. Internet. March 25, 2014. Peltier, Robert. "A Glimpse of 'Miss Brill'." Short stories for students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Information Resource Center. Internet. March 25, 2014. Mandel, Miriam B. “Reductive Imagery in “Miss Brill.” » Studies in Short Fiction 26.4 (Fall 1989): 473-477. Rep. In the Literacy Critique of the Twentieth Center. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Flight. 164. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Information Resource Center. Internet. March 25, 2014. Mansfield, Katherine. “Miss Brill.” Lit. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 135-137. Print.