An Analysis Of "a Rose For Emily" From The Gothic Perspective

William Faulkner, enjoying his reputation all around the world, is one of the mostfamous writers in modern American literature. The story "ARose for Emily" is a masterpieceof his short stories; meanwhile, it is a classical Gothic work. In Gothic novels, the Gothicelements are mainly expressed in three motifs: the weird characters, the theme of death andthe Gothic mysterious, gloomy and horrible circumstance. Through those Gothic elements,Faulkner depicts the tragic life of an aristocratic lady, Emily, who gradually turns from anoble lady into a murderer. Through her tragic life, Faulkner exposes the poison andconfinement of the patriarchalism and the puritan womanhood to a lady.Through this horrible story, Faulkner shows his sympathy for Emily and presents "arose" for her. In the deeper sense, he expresses his contradictory feelings towards the oldworld. On the one hand, he cherishes the memory of the old system; on the other hand, heexpresses his criticism of the sins in that age.Based on the text, this thesis tries to analyze the main Gothic elements in this story andthe analysis mainly focuses on three motifs: the weird characters, the theme of death and theGothic mysterious, gloomy and horrible circumstance. Through the analysis, this thesis triesto inquire how Faulkner uncovers the contamination of the old southern values to thosepeople aristocratic or ordinary. And with the aid of the Gothic genre, he condemns the fetterof the inhumane tradition, the patriarchal chauvinism and the puritan womanhood.This thesis is divided into five parts. The first part is the introduction which gives a briefintroduction to William Faulkner and "A rose for Emily", presents the origin anddevelopment of Gothic novels and then introduces the research results of this story home andabroad. The following three parts are the main body part including three chapters. The firstchapter analyzes the grotesque characters in this story. Through the Gothic interpretation ofabnormal actions of Miss Emily, Homer, Tobe and the townspeople as well as the weirdrelationships between them, this thesis exposes the evil of the old social system. The secondchapter studies the Gothic theme of death. The death of Emily‘s father, Homer and Emilyrespectively implies the decline, struggle and disappearance of the southern tradition. In thethird chapter, this thesis analyzes the Gothic elements in the aspect of environment, circumstance and plot which make the story more attractive to readers, meanwhile, deepenthe theme of this story. The last part is a conclusion of this thesis.