Term Paper on "Rose for Emily by William Faulkner"

Term Paper 3 pages (1080 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Specifically it will discuss the roles of women in the South illustrated in the story. Emily's story takes place in the Reconstruction period of the South after the Civil War, and it indicates the limited roles women had in society at the time. Southern women had little to hope for but marriage, children, and gossip. Emily experienced only the gossip, and this tragic story illustrates how this limited lifestyle affecter her and other women of the South.

From the beginning of this story, it is clear this small southern town is living in the past, when times were more genteel and women had a much different place in society. Throughout the story, Faulkner drops hints about Miss Emily, the ladies of the town, and where they stand in society and importance. Early in the story Faulkner writes, "Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it" (Faulkner). Immediately it is clear the women do not hold much respect in the men's eyes, and it is the men who operate the town. The women simply serve a purpose. They hold a better place in the town than the Negroes (whose women cannot appear on the street without an apron), but only by a little. The women are seen as silly, nonsensical, and unimportant, which is one reason no one really takes Miss Emily seriously, or really investigates what is going on in her house. She is a woman, and she could not possibly do anything of consequence.

It is the women of the town who gossip about her, complain about the smell emitting from her home, and generally keep Miss Emily in the public eye. By becoming a recluse, she has interested the town in her troubles, and the women will not let her "rest in peace." Instead, they have to conjecture why she shuts herself up, and reminisce about the man who did not marry her, but strung her along. None of them are able to imagine the truth, however. Their gossip seems harmless, but it is biting, and Miss Emily knows that. This is another indicator of the place of southern women in the society of the South. They have little to do all day but gossip and mind other people's business, which indicates the unimportance of their own lives and interests.

In addition, the story shows how the men think the women are unimportant, but they still have standards they use to treat a lady. They are afraid to confront Miss Emily and tell her the home smells bad, so instead, they sneak around in the middle of the night to dry and "deodorize" the house. They cannot confront women head on, and so, they go behind their backs and sneak around in the dark. This indicates the lack of depth of relationship between southern men and women, largely because the men respect the women, but do not truly believe they have any intelligence or purpose, other than gossip and homemaking.

Because they have little else to do but gossip and speculate, the women fixate on Miss Emily because she is different. Women in the South have little… READ MORE

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