Reading literature might seem like simple stories at first. However, in works such as William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily,” Katherine Mansfield's “Miss Brill,” and Kate Chopin's “The Storm,” female protagonists are examples of how society has oppressive expectations of women simply because of their kind. A Rose for Emily”, by William Faulkner, the story begins with a clear division between the motivations of men and women: “The men through a kind of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity” (Faulkner 121). At Emily's funeral, the narrator names the men in the category of attending out of respect and the women who attend simply because they are curious and nosy. The immediate distinctive division between men and women suggests that the story has a “stance towards patriarchal social structures” (Curry) in which men are dignified and women superficial. A further example of how women are treated as inferior to men is when women complain about the smell of Emily's house but are not taken seriously until a man complains; women are portrayed as unheard. Although Faulkner compares jurisdiction between men and women, the main component of the story is the expectations society has of a “lady” (Curry). Even after men and women complain about the smell of Emily's house, confronting Emily about the issue 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 behave in a certain way. Later in the story, Emily manages to illegally purchase arsenic for no valid reason, but the cashier assumes she is committing suicide. After Homer, Emily'... center of paper... er, 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. Rpt. In the criticism of short stories. Ed. Giuseppe Palmisano. Vol 68. Detriot: Gale, 2004. Literature Resource Center. Network. March 25, 2014.Peltier, Robert. “An Overview of “Miss Brill”.” Short stories for students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Network. March 25, 2014.Mandel, Miriam B. “Reductive Images in 'Miss Brill.'.” Studies in Short Fiction 26.4 (Fall 1989): 473-477. Rpt. In the Literacy Critique of the Twentieth Center. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. vol. 164. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Literature Resource Center. Network. March 25, 2014.Mansfield, Katherine. "Miss Brill." Lett. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner and Stephen R. Mandell. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 135-137. Press.