Faulkner And Women In Southern

Rather than creating a female character who is obedient, who conforms, and who acts in a socially acceptable way, William Faulkner decided to create a character who would defy social norms. This character is Emily Grierson. William Faulkner’s, A Rose for Emily, takes place from the 1860’s to the 1920’s and depicts the life of Emily Grierson, an “outsider” living in Jefferson, Mississippi who struggles with change and death. Through the characterization of the protagonist, the reader gains insight into southern society, social norms, and gender roles. Faulkner’s portrayal of Emily Grierson as a woman who defies societal expectations and who is outcasted due to her unorthodox behavior reveals his perspective on women in southern society and how they are viewed by surrounding people. Emily Grierson is characterized through her through her thoughts, words, actions, and her relationship with others. The characterization of Miss Emily as secluded, marginalized and avoidant of change, contribute greatly to the overarching themes in the narrative: tradition vs. change, isolation, and the significance of death.

In literature there is a term called a “virago,” which refers to a woman who is bad-tempered, domineering, unattractive, and can be seen as threatening to men. It is unclear whether or not William Faulkner created Miss Emily to be a “virago” on purpose or if that was just one of the conditions in establishing a rebellious and unorthodox character. Arguably, this is a description of Miss Emily through the eyes of the townspeople. When Emily follows social order and southern expectations of women, she is not looked down on, but rather appears angelic and is embraced. In comparison, when she decides not to marry, does not pay her taxes, refuses to bury her father, buys rat poison, and reveals her necrophilia, she is evidently breaking all existing social “norms” for a woman in southern society. Thus, she quickly becomes the center of attention for the townspeople and establishes her role as a “virago.” Not only is Emily Grierson threating to the male species, she is threatening to the traditions and values that the Old South stand for. Miss Emily refuses to be submissive to men as well as who society wants her to be. This characterization proves that Miss Emily is isolated, avoidant to change, and marginalized. It is through the characterization of Emily Grierson that Faulkner comments on and critiques the values, morals and standards of southern society.

Miss Emily’s characterization as “a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town” (Faulkner, 1) reveals her to be a significant figure and causes the townspeople to take great interest in her. In fact, Ruth Sullivan points out that “the town’s curiosity about Miss Emily is stirred by respect, admiration, awe, and affection; but it is also equally stirred by discomfort and revulsion.” (Sullivan, 3). Since Emily does not have a mother, she develops a special bond to her father. However, both become “outsiders” in the eyes of the townspeople as they “believed that the Grierson’s held themselves a little too high for what they really were” (Faulkner, 2). Although she was considered an outsider, before her father’s death, Miss Emily is characterized as a pure, passive, and obedient young girl. Even when Miss Emily reached thirty years old and was still not married, the townspeople “were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized” (Faulkner, 2). Thus, the townspeople had not yet looked down on her for her marriage status because they knew that her father was dominating and had denied various suitors. It seems that the townspeople have imposed a certain code of behavior on Miss Emily and because she did not marry at a young age, she resists the societal expectations placed on women in the Old South and is shamed. If Miss Emily does not follow “the code” set forth by the townspeople, she is spoken of negatively. Faulkner initially presents Miss Emily as one who upholds the ideals of a Southern woman, but quickly illustrates that she is marginalized and isolated by the people in Jefferson simply for not following all of the social norms.

When Emily’s father dies, the townspeople’s view of Miss Emily begins to change. Instead of viewing her in a negative light for not adhering to the southern ideals expected of women, they begin to feel sorry for her: “when her father died, it got about that the house was all that was left to her; and in a way, people were glad. At last they could pity Miss Emily. Being left alone, and a pauper, she had become humanized” (Faulkner, 4). This shift in perspective illustrates the theme of the power of death because due to her father’s death and her current circumstances, the townspeople decide to take pity on her. The townspeople’s shift from shaming Miss Emily to pitying her reveals their shallowness and their need for conformity. As soon as Miss Emily acts in a way that is not “socially acceptable,” the people around her are quick to judge, shame, and critique her. Furthermore, because Emily responds to her father’s death by having “no trace of grief on her face” and by telling the people that “her father was not dead” (Faulkner, 4) the townspeople begin to characterize her behavior as unorthodox and even have try to “persuade her to let them dispose of the body” (Faulkner, 4). It is evident that Miss Emily chooses to believe that her father is not gone, struggles to let go, and wants to hold on to his memory as well his physical being for as long as humanly possible. Acting as such, Faulkner characterizes Miss Emily through her actions and portrays her to be avoidant of change and unaccepting of death, which contributes to her constant battle between sticking to tradition or changing with the times.

Another example of Miss Emily’s characterization is through her relationship with her lover, Homer Barron and the reaction her relationship brews from the townspeople. Despite Homer Barron being from an entirely different social class, the townspeople are pleased to see that Miss Emily has a man in her life whom she would likely marry: “At first we were glad that Miss Emily would have an interest, because the ladies all said, ‘Of course a Grierson would not think seriously of a Northerner, a day laborer’” (Faulkner, 5). By not being married, Miss Emily is clearly not withholding societal standards for a woman in the Old South, and it is only through her steps towards marriage that the townspeople begin to accept her. In “Miss Emily After Dark,” Thomas Argiro makes the argument that “Homer’s role in Emily’s life warrants questions about who and what he really is and whether his intentions are genuine” (Argiro, 446). In fact, when the revelation that Homer Barron is a homosexual is introduced, the townspeople shift their opinions of Miss Emily once again and begin to look down on her. One can infer that because the Old South is very conservative and religious the townspeople begin to think of Homer Barron as a social outcast for being homosexual, and thus associate Miss Emily with that title as well. Faulkner alludes to Homer Barron’s sexuality to illustrate the hypocrisy of the Old South, to question their values/beliefs, and to create yet another character who defies the social norms. In addition, in his book entitled, Faulkner’s Short Fiction, James Ferguson describes how often times William Faulkner’s stories contain individuals who struggle to live in the society they are a part of and address “the conflicts between the needs of selfhood and the imperatives of the social order” (Ferguson, 158). Thus, both Homer Barron and Emily Grierson represent those who are marginalized for not conforming to societal implications and who as social “outcasts” reinforce the theme of isolation.

A turning point in the narrative that defines Miss Emily’s personality and her motives is when she purchased arsenic: ‘I want some poison,’ she said to the druggist. She was over thirty then, still a slight woman, though thinner than usual, with cold, haughty black eyes in a face the flesh of which was strained across the temples and about the eyesockets as you imagine a lighthouse” (Faulkner, 5-6). Originally, the encounter between the druggist and Miss Emily illustrates her powerlessness and highlights the dominance that the druggist has over her. However, it is a battle between sexes and ultimately Miss Emily wins. The depiction of Miss Emily as having “cold black eyes” and “flesh strained across the temples” characterizes her as heartless, standoffish, and less than human. Faulkner’s comparison of Miss Emily’s face to a lighthouse indicates that she is lonesome, mysterious and eccentric, similar to the townspeople’s perception of her. It also reinforces the theme of isolation as most times a lighthouse stands alone amongst the water whereas Miss Emily stands alone in the town of Jefferson. The druggist then insists that “the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for’ (Faulkner, 6). However, when Miss Emily continued stared at him without exposing why she was buying it, she was exercising her refusal to be submissive to southern society/laws. Miss Emily is so powerful and convincing that in the end, the druggist surrenders and decides to give her the poison without asking further questions. William Faulkner chooses to present this scene to show that women can overpower men in certain situations and to play on the idea that sometimes rebelling against the norms can be rewarding in the end.

The story then moves forward in time when it describes Miss Emily as “a small, fat woman in black, with a thin gold chain descending to her waist and vanishing into her belt, leaning on an ebony cane with a tarnished gold head. Her skeleton was small and spare” (Faulkner, 2). At this point, Homer Barron has disappeared several years ago, and Miss Emily is now completely alone with no male supervision, which has presumably affected her physical appearance. Here, Faulkner characterizes her as obese, old, and wearing dark clothing, which is the complete opposite as what she is remembered to be as a young girl—angelic, slender, and wearing white. This idea is supported in the Structure of “A Rose for Emily” written by Floyd Watkins, as the author states “In youth Emily is not wholly separated from her somewhat sympathetic environment. In later life, however, she withdraws more and more until her own death again exposes her to the townspeople” (Watkins, 509). This shift in characterization is significant because when Emily was adhering to social norms, she was described idealistically and in a positive way. However, as an older woman who is secluded and who has defied southern standards of how woman should behave, the townspeople describe her negatively as fat, cold, dark, and unattractive. Again, the reader can see the hypocrisy of the Old South and how the townspeople only think positively about a person, specifically a woman, if they are following the “rules” and are submissive to societal “norms.” This is what William Faulkner wishes to reiterate through his creation of Emily Grierson, a woman living in the South who rebels and defies what others expect of her.

Arguably the most disturbing and shocking description of Miss Emily is revealed towards the end of the short story after she has passed away. This is when the townspeople finally enter her house and go up to the attic to find a “profound and fleshless grin. The body had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace, but now the long sleep that outlasts love, that conquers even the grimace of love, had cuckolded him” (Faulkner, 9). Since Miss Emily has kept what is presumably Homer Barron’s body in bed with her, the reader may jump to the conclusion that she was a necrophiliac. Many critics wonder why Faulkner would choose to portray Emily in such a way and Thomas Argrio proposed that “Faulkner figuratively engages with the practice of necrophilia as an abject and depraved perversion erupting from extreme and unusual family behaviors. His figuration calls into question what an interracial affair would have meant to him and to his audience at that time.” (Argrio, 462). Although this is an unsettling discovery, Miss Emily’s necrophilia solidifies that she has completely swayed from the societal standards set forth for women in the south.