In "A Rose for Emily", the theme of male dominance and female submission is highlighted through the relationship that Miss Emily had with her father and through the community's expectations that women should marry in order to lead a normal life. Miss Emily's father literally controlled her social life the entire time he was alive, never allowing any man to be with her, which forced her to be alone for a long time. The community, seeing her alone, judged her and thought she was strange for being alone. Unaware of what was thought of her, Miss Emily eventually married a man from whom not even death could part her, which remained a secret until her death. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get Original Essay In those days, women were controlled by their fathers or husbands because they were expected to always be proper, stay at home, take care of yourself, and behave like a woman. Miss Emily's family was a prominent family in the community and her father was well known, but not always for good things. In fact, he was thought to be a maniac and was obsessed with Miss Emily's social life. She had never thought that a man was good enough for her, which ended up hurting Miss Emily instead of helping her because not being with anyone made her judge her. In the story it says: “When her father died, word spread that the house was all she had left; and in the distance the people were happy. At last they could pity Miss Emily. In other words, when her father died, she had just been born, in a sense, because people felt that her humanity was finally being exposed because she was alone and lonely and poor. This is important because it shows that without a father a woman is considered lost. Back then the community judged women because they were alone and did not have a partner, especially if they were older. If a woman was alone, there had to be something wrong. In Miss Emily's case, her father was the main reason she was alone, but the community made things worse by judging her as such. Aware of this pressure, Miss Emily began dating Homer Barron, a loud and obnoxious man of whom the community did not approve. In the story, the community says, “Poor Emily. Her relatives should come to her.” This meant that he was ruining his family's reputation by associating with Homer Barron. However, it was the only attention Miss Emily had received from a man since her father died, so she didn't care what the community thought at the time. The pressure the community put on Miss Emily and all women made her make decisions that shocked her. the community once discovered. Miss Emily remained confined to her home for the last forty years of her life. Once she was dead, the room that had been closed for forty years was opened and the body of Homer Barron was discovered, next to which there was a long gray hair, that of Miss Emily. The pressure of having a man in her life pushed her to keep the only man she ever had, Homer Barron, even after his death. This explained the bad smell coming from his house at the beginning of the story. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Being a woman at that time came with certain social expectations, the most significant of which was that a man usually defined a woman. At first, Miss Emily's father defined her and controlled her life. Later, Homer Barron defined her and controlled her life, even though he was dead. He lived.