Brief Analysis of “A Rose for Emily”

Notes will be useful for your essay!

Southern Gothic Literature• Inspired from the Gothic style which had been

popular in Europe (Gothic Lit. used dark, mysterious settings to create suspense and mood—like, drafty castles, cobwebs, supernatural occurrences, & innocent victim)

• Southern Gothic lit. draws on some of those elements, but these authors were more interested in what those elements had to say or how they related to human psychology and how those elements push humans to the edge of sanity/society.

More about it…

• “Southern Gothic writers were interested in the extreme, antisocial behaviors that were often a reaction against a confining code of social conduct” (SparkNotes 1). – What “code” might Miss Emily be rebelling against

in “A Rose for Emily?” – Why do you think Faulkner’s character went to

such an extreme to rebel?– Are there some similarities between Mrs. Mallard

and Miss Emily? Are there differences?

Some more about the “cult”

• “Woman, in the Cult of True Womanhood, presented by the women’s magazines, gift annuals and religious literature of the 19th century, was the hostage in the home” (Welter 1).

• The attributes of True Womanhood, by which a woman judged herself and was judged by her husband, her neighbors, and society…” (Welter 152).

Next Story… “A Jury of Her Peers”• Written by Susan Glaspell in 1916• We will read the one-act play version entitled “Trifles”• Inspired by events witnessed during her years as a court

reporter in Iowa.• The synopsis of the play is that a murder has taken place and

the men need to investigate the scene for evidence. Their wives accompany them. The women are in charge of packing a bag of things for Mrs. Minnie Foster, who has been arrested. The men pay no attention to the women because they are simple & only focus on trivial things.