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"A Rose for Emily": A Feminist Criticism of William Faulkner's Short Story

Table of contents, deconstructing gender roles, the trapped woman, a critique of male narratives.

• Benvenuto, R., & Kennedy, D. (2014). A rose for Emily: An interpretation. The Psychoanalytic Review, 101 (3), 407-421.
• Bledsoe, E. S. (2010). Subtexts of control and the subversive voices of self in William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily." The Mississippi Quarterly, 63 (3/4), 471-493.
• Freeman, D. C. (2007). “A Rose for Emily” and the narrator’s voice. Studies in Short Fiction, 44 (2), 101-113.
• Wagenknecht, E. (1974). "A Rose for Emily": Against interpretation. Studies in Short Fiction, 11 (3), 365-371.
• Wolff, C. M. (2011). The rebellious and the dead: The conundrum of Emily Grierson. Journal of Evolutionary Psychology, 32 (1-2), 54-61.

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Home › Literature › Analysis of William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily

Analysis of William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily

By NASRULLAH MAMBROL on June 12, 2021

Initially published in Forum on April 30, 1930, and collected in These Thirteen in 1931, “A Rose for Emily” remains one of William Faulkner’s most read, most anthologized, and most significant stories. From every imaginable perspective, critics have scrutinized the components of Faulkner’s literary technique: The story has been viewed as an allegory of southern history, a metaphorical depiction of NorthSouth relationships, feminist nightmare or feminist victory, a gothic horror story, a sociological portrayal of individualism squelched or individualism triumphant, a bleak fictional tale of determinism. Faulkner’s uses of structure, tone, point of view, and imagery play key roles in his depiction of Miss Emily Grierson. The fact that readers and critics still engage in interpretive debates over its meaning merely ensures that it will continue to be read.

Told from the perspective of Jefferson, in Yoknapatawpha County, in a narrative voice that consistently relates the details that “we”—the smug and gossipy townspeople of Jefferson—have observed, the story is intriguing on the level of plot and character alone: Miss Emily has just died, and we learn that she lived alone after her father died and Homer Baron, her Yankee lover, apparently abandoned her. Suspense continues to build when we learn that a mysterious odor emanated from her house at the time that Homer disappeared. Faulkner employs a number of clues to foreshadow both denouement and motivation, including the “tableau” of the imperious father with a horsewhip overshadowing his white-clad young daughter Emily; the portrait of her father that Emily displays at his death, despite his thwarting of her natural youthful desires; her defiant public appearances with the unsuitable Homer Baron; her sense of entitlement; and the arsenic she buys to rid her house of “rats.” Despite these and other devices, however, new generations of readers still react in horror when Emily’s secret is revealed: She not only murdered her lover but slept with his corpse in the attic bridal chamber she carefully prepared.

If Miss Emily is crazy (and most critics agree that she is), Faulkner implies that she has been made so by the constrictions of a father who refused to let her marry and by the conventions of a society that eagerly filled the void at his death. Numerous critics have suggested that behind the gothic horror of necrophilia and insanity in this classic story, Miss Emily Grierson is the oddly modern hero. Indeed, one critic asserts that we cannot understand any of Faulkner’s heroes if we do not understand Miss Emily, for she is the “prototype” of them all (Strindberg 877). As with other troubled Faulknerian protagonists, death literally frees Miss Emily—from patriarchy, from society’s conventions, from sexual repression, from the class structure she was taught to revere, from the useless existence of privileged women of her era, even from the burdens of southern history and slavery: With her death, her black servant, mysteriously complicit in his relation to Miss Emily, walks out of her house at the end of the story. In an interview at the University of Virginia, Faulkner suggested that Miss Emily deserved a rose for all the torment she had endured, and, whatever else they feel, most readers appear to agree with this sentiment.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Blotner, Joseph. Faulkner: A Biography. 2 Vols. New York: Random House, 1974. Rev. ed., New York: Random House, 1984. Carothers, James. Faulkner’s Short Stories. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1985. Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” In Collected Short Stories. New York: Random House, 1940. Ferguson, James. Faulkner’s Short Fiction. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1991. Strindberg, Victor. “A Rose for Emily.” In Reader’s Guide to Short Fiction, edited by Noelle Watson, 577. Detroit: St. James Press, 1993.

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“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner: Analysis

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, published in 1930, quickly captivated readers for its setting, characters and thematic strands.

Introduction: “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Table of Contents

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, published in 1930, quickly captivated readers for its setting, characters and thematic strands. Set in the fictional Mississippi town of Jefferson, the story centers on Emily Grierson, a mysterious Southern belle whose life and death become an obsession for the townspeople. Faulkner’s masterful use of non-linear storytelling explores themes of tradition, societal change, and the decay of the Old South, solidifying “A Rose for Emily” as a lasting contribution to American literature.

Main Events in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

• Emily faces her father’s death; her actions shock the community. Emily’s denial of her father’s passing leads her to keep his body within her home for three days, and upon finally releasing the body for burial, she descends into a life of isolation.
• Years later, Emily challenges the established order. When town officials attempt to collect taxes, Emily not only refuses but insists the town remains indebted to her. Her defiance is mirrored in her seclusion; she rarely ventures from her home, a notable exception being her unsettling purchase of arsenic.
• A new generation questions Emily’s past as a mysterious romance unfolds. Intrigued by her enigmatic history, the town’s youth fixate on her relationship with Homer Barron, a Northern laborer. Their frequent sightings together incite whispers of an engagement.
• Emily’s arsenic purchase fuels the townspeople’s fears. Her acquisition of the poison strengthens their belief that she intends suicide, yet no tragedy occurs, and her withdrawn existence continues.
• Homer’s disappearance ignites speculation, while a disturbing odor emerges. When Homer vanishes, the townspeople’s suspicions swirl. Emily remains unmoved by his absence, but a foul smell from her property raises further alarm.
• Emily’s death unveils a horrifying truth. Upon her passing, the townspeople infiltrate her home and stumble upon a gruesome secret: Emily had preserved Homer’s corpse and slept beside it for years.
• A flashback illuminates Emily’s isolation. The narrative returns to the night of her father’s death, exposing his relentless interference in her romantic life, ultimately leading to her desolate existence.
• The townspeople’s actions offer a twisted form of closure. Their decision to bury Homer within Emily’s home implies a warped sense of fulfillment for her, as if she’d finally obtained the companionship she desperately craved.
• A haunting image lingers. The story concludes with the chilling visual of a single gray hair on the pillow beside Homer’s remains, suggesting Emily’s disturbing intimacy persisted even beyond his death.
• The haunting finale prompts contemplation. The story’s final line – “Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair” – forces the reader to grapple with the complexities of Emily’s character and the story’s central themes.

Characterization in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Major characters, minor characters, major themes in “a rose for emily” by william faulkner.

• The Destructive Nature of Isolation:

·  Emily’s Self-Imposed Seclusion: After her father’s death, Emily becomes a recluse, cutting herself off from the outside world.

• The Consequences of Isolation: Emily’s isolation leads to a warped perception of reality, contributing to her psychological decline and a horrifying secret.

·  The Clash of Tradition vs. Change

• Emily as a Symbol of the Old South: Emily clings fiercely to the traditions and values of the past, represented by her decaying mansion and her resistance to change.
• Homer Barron as a Symbol of Progress: Homer, a Northern laborer, represents modernity and change that threaten Emily’s traditional world.
• The Town’s Ambivalence: The townspeople are caught between a fading past and an uncertain future, reflected in their conflicting attitudes towards Emily.

·  The Fading Glory of the American South

• The Decaying Grierson Mansion: The once-grand house symbolizes the decline of the Old South and its aristocratic families.
• Emily’s Resistance to Change: Emily’s insistence on maintaining the status quo mirrors the larger social struggle between tradition and progress in the post-Civil War South.

·  The Illusion of Control

• Mr. Grierson’s Influence: Emily’s father exerts extreme control over her life, preventing her from marrying and contributing to her isolation.
• Emily’s Desperate Measures: Emily’s actions with Homer reveal a twisted desire to control love and death, ultimately leading to a horrifying discovery.

·  The Unreliability of Memory and Perception

• The Non-Linear Narrative: The story’s fragmented timeline blurs the lines between past and present, mirroring the town’s unreliable memory of events.
• The Townspeople’s Bias: The collective narrator filters events through their own prejudices and limited understanding of Emily, leaving the truth obscured.

Writing Style in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

·  Non-linear Narrative: Faulkner disrupts the traditional flow of time with flashbacks and forward jumps. Examples:

• The story starts with Emily’s funeral, then flashes back to her relationship with her father.
• Details about Homer are revealed in fragments, heightening the mystery of his fate.

·  Multiple Narrators and Shifting Points of View: The collective “we” of the townspeople narrates the story, offering a limited perspective. Examples:

• The townspeople speculate about Emily’s purchase of arsenic, drawing their own assumptions.
• Their interpretation of events might contrast with the reality of Emily’s motivations.

·  Vivid, Poetic Language: Faulkner uses striking imagery to evoke a sense of gothic decay and despair. Examples:

• Descriptions of the Grierson mansion as “stubborn and coquettish” and smelling of “dust and disuse.”
• Emily’s appearance is likened to “a body long submerged in motionless water.”

·  Atmosphere of Foreboding Faulkner crafts a palpable feeling of dread and unease, foreshadowing the macabre ending. Examples:

• The townspeople’s observations of a strange smell surrounding Emily’s house.
• Emily’s purchase of arsenic hints at a potentially sinister purpose.

Literary Theories and Interpretation of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Questions and thesis statements about “a rose for emily” by william faulkner.

1. The Theme of Isolation in “A Rose for Emily”

• Strong focus: This topic is directly tied to one of the story’s central themes.
• Character-centered: By analyzing Emily, you can explore how her isolation develops and its consequences.
• How does the town contribute to her isolation?
• Is her isolation entirely negative, or does it offer something to her as well?

2. The Role of Gender in “A Rose for Emily”

• Relevant critique: Gender expectations are a powerful force in the story.
• Potential for depth: This can be connected to broader themes like Southern womanhood, power dynamics, and societal change.
• How do the townspeople’s expectations of women both trap and, oddly, protect Emily?
• Explore other female figures in the story (even minor ones) as a contrast.

3. The Use of Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily”

• Rich with symbolism: The story is layered with meaningful symbols.
• Allows for close analysis: Focusing on specific symbols can enhance your exploration of the key themes.
• Look beyond obvious symbols to less-discussed ones (hair, dust, etc.).
• How do the symbols interact or contradict each other?

4. The Narrative Structure of “A Rose for Emily”

• Unique aspect of the story: Faulkner’s structure is a key element of its impact.
• Connects form to meaning: Analyzing how the narrative is structured helps reveal deeper layers of meaning.
• How does the fragmented timeline influence our understanding of Emily?
• What effect does the collective narrator (“we”) have?

5. The Role of Death in “A Rose for Emily”

• Powerful motif: Death is ever-present in this story.
• Explores multiple facets: This topic could focus on literal deaths, metaphorical deaths (of the Old South), or Emily’s relationship to mortality.
• How does Emily’s connection to death differ from the townspeople’s?
• Does death represent an escape for Emily, or something else?

Short Question-Answer “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Literary works similar to “a rose for emily” by william faulkner.

“The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman:

• Shared Themes: Both stories explore the psychological deterioration of women due to isolation and confinement. The protagonists descend into fragmented mental states as a result of their restricted circumstances.
• Stylistic Similarities: Gilman and Faulkner employ first-person narration that grows increasingly unreliable, offering the reader a distorted view of events that mirrors the character’s fracturing psyche.

“The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe:

• Shared Themes: The decaying mansions in both stories serve as stark symbols of isolation, psychological decline, and the crumbling of old legacies. The themes of death and decay pervade both narratives.
• Stylistic Similarities: Poe and Faulkner are renowned Southern Gothic authors, sharing a talent for creating a haunting atmosphere, exploring macabre settings, and incorporating elements of the supernatural.

“ A Good Man Is Hard to Find ” by Flannery O’Connor:

• Shared Themes: Both O’Connor and Faulkner expose the darker aspects of the South, questioning notions of morality and human nature. Their characters—The Misfit and Emily Grierson—offer enigmatic psychological profiles, inviting speculation about their hidden motives.
• Stylistic Similarities: Both writers portray grotesque scenarios with an air of detachment, forcing the reader to confront unsettling moral implications.

“ The Lottery ” by Shirley Jackson:

• Shared Themes: Both stories challenge the idealization of small-town life, revealing the horrors that can lie beneath the surface of tradition and conformity.
• Stylistic Similarities: Jackson and Faulkner build suspense with matter-of-fact prose that contrasts with the disturbing events, culminating in chilling twists.

“Winesburg, Ohio” by Sherwood Anderson:

• Shared Themes: This interconnected collection of short stories explores the complexities of small-town life, mirroring Faulkner’s focus on themes of loneliness, isolation, and the universal desire for connection.
• Stylistic Similarities: Both authors use fragmented structures and multiple perspectives to construct complex portrayals of their characters and the communities they inhabit.

Suggested Readings: “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner

Scholarly Articles

• Bloom, Harold. “Introduction.” Bloom’s Modern Critical Interpretations: A Rose for Emily, New Edition, edited by Harold Bloom, Chelsea House Publishers, 2008, pp. 1–9.
• Justus, James H. “The Narrator in ‘A Rose for Emily.'” Journal of Narrative Technique, vol. 1, no. 3, 1971, pp. 195-209. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30225170.
• Polk, Noel. “The Narrative Strategy of ‘A Rose for Emily.'” Modern Language Studies, vol. 13, no. 4, 1983, pp. 3-11. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/3194650

Books of Literary Criticism

• Brooks, Cleanth. William Faulkner: Toward Yoknapatawpha and Beyond. Yale University Press, 1978.
• Millgate, Michael. The Achievement of William Faulkner. Random House, 1963.
• Tuck, Dorothy. Faulkner’s Mississippi. University Press of Mississippi, 1980.
• SparkNotes: A Rose for Emily. SparkNotes Editors. 2002. https://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/a-rose-for-emily/
• CliffsNotes: A Rose for Emily. https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/f/faulkners-short-stories/summary-and-analysis-a-rose-for-emily/section-i
• The William Faulkner Project https://english.olemiss.edu/faulkner-in-america-kathryn-mckee/

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Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Education, Language and Art (ICELA 2021)

Analysis of A Rose for Emily from Feminist Perspective

A Rose for Emily is one of the representative works of Southern literature in America, which portrays the tragic life of a traditional Southern noble woman. After suffering from the destruction of traditional customs and patriarchy in the South, the protagonist wakes up to fight against feudal thoughts and finally fails miserably. This paper analyzes the protagonist Emily’s powerlessness and struggle in the face of social changes and other people’s satirical comments under the education and influence of patriarchy from the perspective of feminism, as well as the distorted human nature of pursuing good love and even murdering her lover. At the same time, it also makes a detailed analysis of the social environment from this perspective, so that we can find more information about the current situation of social feminism at that time. In the end, we can reveal the tragic life of the women represented by Emily, who became deformed, humble and helpless in the American Southern society under the oppression of the old tradition, the puritan view of women’s morality, the patriarchal family and the decadent Southern marriage system. This paper aims to alert the world to learn and promote feminism and establish a harmonious society with equality between men and women. Only in this way can we promote the establishment of a free, equal and harmonious society.

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Critique for ‘A Rose for Emily’ Essay (Critical Writing)

Introduction, article summary, personal response.

First published in 1930, A Rose for Emily is a captivating must-read chef-d’oeuvre by Faulkner that artistically presents an account of a society that is immensely resistant to the inevitable change. Although the story is narrated in a manner that reflects a mix up of various chronological accounts, it is clear that the story can be analyzed from the perspectives of hidden messages underlying the themes of the story.

Dilworth (1999) is also inclined to this line of view when he asserts that Faulkner attempts to convey themes of change and death (p.253). Indeed, in the paper, I agree with this argument in the sense that, by using various references to A Rose for Emily, Dilworth evidences that death looms right from the first section to the fifth section of the story.

The themes of change are reflected by Miss Emily’s denial of the fate of death and refusal to comply with the obligation for paying taxes. In this perspective, Dilworth argues that the killing of Homer Barron “is eclipsed in the imagination of readers by evidence of some sort of necrophilia” (1999, p. 251).

The focus of this paper is to analyze the article, A Romance to Kill For: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” published in the journal of Studies in Short Fiction in terms of logicalness of the presented arguments coupled with giving the writer’s response to the article.

Dilworth sees the existing relationship between the narrator and Emily as largely symbiotic. This means that Emily and the society represented by the narrator can only exist mutually with each other. To reinforce this argument, Dilworth argues that the traits and behaviors of Emily are creations of the narrator thus implying that he presents Emily as the symbol of communicating what he believes to be the cultural values of the society in which he lives.

Arguably, therefore, the actions of the main character such as killing followed by evading justice and failure to pay taxes without any legal action being taken upon her are depictive of the eminent shortfalls of the white society of the south during the time of writing of the short story.

For instance, quoting a critique of the short story (Helen Nebeker), Dilworth affirms, “the narrator’s awareness of events implies long held knowledge of murder which the narrator has kept secret to preserve the honor and myth of the south” (p.253). Arguably, therefore, this means that the society was aware of certain atrocities that were committed by certain highly profiled persons and yet they could not be brought to book.

According to Dilworth, this happened due to the idealization of white women belonging to high-class social status. This is evidenced by Dilworth’s argument, “white women of class were not to be troubled by certain worldly obligations” (Dilworth, 1999, p.258). The negation from complying with the worldly obligations includes the refusal to pay taxes.

As Dilworth puts it, the society represented by Emily is highly segregated in terms of compliance to legal provisions. For instance, he argues that Emily went to buy arsenic though on request to explain what and how she meant to use it. She declined to reply although it was a legal requirement for her to do so. Nevertheless, the drug dealer could not force her to do it or even refuse to sell it to her.

Another issue that concerns Dilworth is the nature of the society depicted by Emily in terms of equal applicability of justice especially in the case where a stench issued from Emily’s house. When the matter was brought before a judge, he “refused to make a public issue of it since one does not accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad” (Dilworth, 1999, p.255). Dilworth does not hesitate to criticize the Christianity as being characterized by religious hypocrisy.

For instance, he argues that the fact that Emily and Barron lived together before they were legally married implied that the society engaged in fornication yet people like Emily were Christians. In this context, Dilworth claims that Emily “chose to enter into collusion with the society to the extent of maintaining her image as a proper high-class southern Christian” (Dilworth, 1999, p.255).

However, Dilworth maintains that he believes that the society never knew about the evils of Emily until her death, and a rotting corpse was found by the side of an indent of a woman with Emily’s hair resting on it. However, he also raises several counterarguments including the knowledge of the townspeople that she had bought arsenic, which, if she was to take it, could have made her kill herself (p.269). In a different perspective, this implies that Dilworth thinks that the townspeople are also capable of committing homicide.

One of the central concerns of Dilworth entails placing a logically substantive argument about the townspeople’s knowledge of homicide. In particular, Dilworth argues, “on the basis of the evidence, it is inconceivable, I think, that the townspeople did not know early on about Emily’s killing Homer Barron” (Dilworth, 1999, p.257).

Dilworth assumes that Emily must have expressed the guilt of her sins among the townspeople even though they may not have talked about it amongst themselves. In this argument, there is a breach of one element of logical argument. There lacks a direct evidence from the story depicting Emily in any state of remorse or any other form of emotion that shows her feeling for being sorry for either killing her lover or by denying her father’s death for four days.

However, in linking Emily with the death of Barron, Dilworth uses evidence from the story to prove his argument. For instance, he quotes the townspeople’s knowledge of the last time that they saw Barron enter his lover’s house by arguing out, “they knew that her lover was last seen entering at the kitchen door at dusk one evening” (Dilworth , 1999, p.258).

However, an alternative argument is considered in this particular situation whereby one would also think that Barron could have moved out of the house without the knowledge on the townspeople by chance just as it was by chance that they saw her enter the house. Therefore, although he provides evidence that it happened after Emily had bought the arsenic, Barron having deserted her, when a stench came out upon entering the house. Therefore, it becomes hard to approximate the time of poisoning exactly.

Dilworth places a question on why the four men sent by town council members to “scatter lime around the foundation of the house, in her cellular” (p.257) executed this task while they could have conceived that the intensity of the smell was far greater than that of a rotting rat or a snake as suggested by the judge.

While it could be possible for the four men to suspect that the smell should have emanated from a large corpse, it is also important to note that they could have possibly suspected that the corpse was of a human being if the men knew that Emily had the capacity to kill.

This is only possible if they had the experience of situations in which Emily had killed people and buried them secretly. In this sense, it becomes hard to prove that the four men had the knowledge that Emily could have killed somebody. Amid this argument, Dilworth is quick to point out that there is no evidence of what the four men thought of because Faulkner does not tell the reader about their thoughts. Consequently, this argument is illogical since it lacks evidences and necessary proofs.

Emily had engaged in a number of instances in which she defied her noble responsibilities to the state. She was defiant. Nevertheless, should this be enough to form the basis for the townspeople to suspect her as having taken her lover’s life? In this context, Dilworth argues, “apart from the recent or long awareness of the closed room, knowledge of Emily’s buying arsenic, her refusal to state its purpose, and the memory of the smell of corruption are enough to suggest a 40-year-old suspicion, if not outright certainty of murder” (p.259).

Logically, it is clear that Dilworth implies that, since the townspeople could have had the awareness of the situations in which Emily deviated from the moral line, the situations are also likely indicators of her involvement with killing her lover.

Unfortunately, the situations are distinctive: a clear margin can be drawn between them. Their interconnection that a situation results to another unrelated situation is a complete departure from logical reasoning since the evidences are not connected directly with the consequences associated with each situation.

There are many ways of interpreting or attaching meaning for any literary work. One way is to interpret it from the context of its setting. Historically, racial discrimination, denial of certain rights to women, and even belief in the superiority of persons in the high-class social group were issues that had to be dealt with in the early 20 th century.

A Rose for Emily seems to be set within this chronological period. Consequently, it is possible that, through Emily, Faulkner actually portrayed the differences among people in relation to their social status.

This means that the society may have known about the evils committed by Emily. However, because of the fear associated with her social status, they could not have confronted her. From the arguments raised by Dilworth implicating Emily with the death of her lover, it is arguable that Emily’s failure to respond to the druggist about the purpose of the arsenic is an evidence of suspecting her to have poisoned her lover.

Otherwise, from the story itself, the reader is only told that the status of the corpse by the time it was found was in the last stages of decomposition. Nothing shows that the cause of death was through poisoning. This makes it hard to determine whether Emily actually poisoned rats, just as the arsenic was labeled ’for rats,’ or her lover.

A Rose for Emily is a short story written by Faulkner. It attracts valid interpretations. In this paper, the focus was to analyze Dilworth’s article ‘A Romance to Kill For: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” who provides one of the ways of interpreting the short story. The concern was to scrutinize the logic of the arguments presented by Dilworth. The paper has argued that, while some arguments are logical, others lack adequate evidence to support them.

Dilworth, T. (1999). A Romance to Kill For: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. Studies in short fiction, 36 (3), 251-264.

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