Study on the Gothic Style in A Rose for Emily

Study on the Gothic Style in A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily written by American writer William Faulkner is regarded as

the representative work of southern gothic fiction of America.1 The story writes about Miss Emily’s tragic life and it’s full of suspense and intensely interesting. The word “Goth” came from the name of a Germanic tribe. Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. After briefly defining the gothic novel and introducing the gothic characteristics in literature, and then giving three aspects of the novel of how William Faulkner uses a gothic way to write, first the description of the environment, then the theme, and finally the narrative way, this essay will show that William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily reflects many gothic characteristics and because of this the author can express his complicated feeling successfully.(144)

How is the gothic novel defined, and how does the gothic characteristics influence the literature? Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror, is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. 2 Gothicism's origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, with his 1764 novel The Castle of Otranto, subtitled \"A Gothic Story\". 3 The word “Goth” came from the name of a Germanic tribe, after the Rome Empire died out, Italian Vasari used the “Goth” for the first time to refer to an architectural style in middle age. After then, the gothic characteristics not only appear in architecture, but also appear in many fields such as literature, movie, music and clothing. The Gothic characteristics in literature are that the story mostly take

place in a distant ages and desolate places, the characters are locked or imprisoned in a narrow spaces or in a mysterious gothic building and suspense often mingles with love. At the end of the novel, the evildoer is discovered and the impediment of the love between the hero and the heroine is brushed aside. The theme of the gothic story mostly reveals through death, murder, violence and horrible scene. If A Rose for Emily reveals a mysterious, horrible, depressed and gloomy atmosphere, then it can be said to be reflect gothic characteristics. From three different aspects of the novel, the description of environment, the theme and the narrative way, will test if A Rose for Emily reflects the gothic characteristics and because of this the author can express his complicated feeling successfully.(263)

The first test of whether A Rose for Emily reflects the gothic characteristics is a study on the description of the environment. The gothic story usually takes place in those places where people seldom visit, such as a hidden castle in the jungle, a farmstead, and old dilapidated house and so on. The author spends big words on the description of the scene and the horrible atmosphere. Emily’s house embodies the gothic characteristics. Emily’s house is a special kind of style made of wood. When her parents were alive, her house “had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the Seventies.”4 With the time passing by, the house still kept its outdated style and “lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay.”5 Years later, there was “a dust and disuse—a close, dank smell in the air.”6 The parlor was “furnished in heavy,leather—covered furniture”.7 The author described a dim and mysterious picture for us. Then, it was shocking that in Emily’s house,

Homer’s skeleton ”had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace.”8 The pillow which was in the same bed was the indentation of a head, and Emily had been slept with his skeleton for forty years. Sepulchral atmosphere spread the air. It’s shocking and horrible. This is the characteristics of the Gothic novel. Faulkner not only uses these characteristics in A Rose for Emily, but also adds more details such as murder, violence. Therefore, A Rose for Emily had created the mysterious and horrible atmosphere successfully.(258)

The second test of whether A Rose for Emily reflects the gothic characteristics is a study on the theme of the novel. Mostly, the characteristics of the theme in gothic literature are that the author reveals the evil of human being and attacks the dark side of the society, such as the unfairness and crime through death, murder, violence and revenge. 9 At Emily’s times, before marriage, women were controlled by fathers. Emily couldn’t go out to make friends, and her father thought there’s no man who’s good enough to match his daughter, so she was still single when she was thirty years old. After his father’s death, she had no courage to face the outside world alone, so she went outside seldom. And then Homer appeared and Emily was attracted by him, but to her disappointment, he refused to marry her. She knew that she couldn’t control his life when he was alive, so she decided to kill him. In order to own him forever, Emily killed him by using drug.10 So the theme of the short story which the author was trying to show was that he attacked the men’s domination over women by Emily’s murder, her necrophilia, and her separation from outside for many years, and meanwhile the author also showed his sympathy for women and he spoke for women’s freedom. The author also attacked the decayed thought of white

people in the South by Emily’s murder. So the theme of the story was showed in gothic characteristics successfully.(252)

The last test of whether A Rose for Emily reflects the gothic characteristics is a study on the narrative way writing the novel. Mostly, gothic literature is about suspense.11 Because of the suspense, the gothic literature has its own characteristics: mysterious, horrible and gloomy atmosphere and the process to solve the suspense is an adventurous experience. The usual way of telling the suspense is flashback form, because this kind of narrative way can make readers feel the mystery of the story and attract readers’ attention to go on reading it.12 At the beginning, Emily was dead at seventy--six years old. She once was beautiful, but her father drove all the men who pursued her. She secretly murdered Homer by rat poison, and slept with him for forty years. Later this was found by people in the town.14 The author adopts the flashback to add much profound meaning to the short story, which is superior to the normal narrative way of the general fictions. In addition, the choosing of the narrator also reflects the gothic characteristics. Mostly the suspense is told by someone who doesn’t participate,15 but in the novel the narrator is “we”--- people in the town, not Emily. The flashback form and the choosing of the narrator grasp people’s curiosity for the suspense, and make the suspense more mysterious. In a short, the narrative way created a mysterious and terrified atmosphere, so the gothic characteristics exist in the narrative way of the story. How A Rose for Emily reflects the gothic characteristics, first through the description of the environment, then the theme, and lastly the narrative way of writing, are three points that could see A Rose for Emily reflects the gothic characteristics.(285)

A Rose for Emily is a great work that deserves to be further studied. With the

study on the description of the environment, the theme and the narrative way of writing, this essay shows us that A Rose for Emily has reflected the gothic characteristics, and because of this, the author can express his complicated feeling successfully. In such a great work, there are more to learn, a further study on the characters and the story will help us further understand the gothic style in this novel.(87)

Introduction and Conclusion 144 + 87; Body 263 +258+262+285 Total=1309

1 For the writer:William Faulkner, an American writer and Nobel Prize winner.

2 “Gothic fiction,”(www.wikipedia.org/), last modified February 25, 2012,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction.

3 Ibid.

4 William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily(Shanghai:East China University Of Science

and Technology Press,2010),1.

5 Ibid,2.

6 Ibid,2

7 Ibid,3.

8 Ibid,8.

9

“Gothic fiction,”(www.search.com),access February

23,http://www.search.com/reference/Gothic_fiction.

10 For an overview see:William Faulkner,A Rose for Emily(Shanghai:East China

University Of Science and Technology Press,2010).

11

“gothic literature,”(www.buzzle.com),last modified September

19,2011,http://www.buzzle.com/articles.gothic-literature.html.

12 Ibid.

13

“gothic,”(baike.baidu.com/),last modified February

19,2012,http://baike.baidu.com/view/48041.htm#2.

14 For an overview see:William Faulkner,A Rose for Emily(Shanghai:East China

University Of Science and Technology Press,2010).

15 “gothic literature,”(www.buzzle.com),last modified September.

Bibliograpghy “Gothic

fiction,”

Wikipedia. Last modified 2012.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gothic_fiction

Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. Shanghai: East China University Of

Science and Technology Press,,2010.

“Gothic

fiction,”

Search. Accessed February 23, 2012.

http://www.search.com/reference/Gothic_fiction.

“gothic

literature,”

Buzzle, Last modified September 19,2011.

http://www.buzzle.com/articles.gothic-literature.html

“gothic,” Baidu. Last modified http://baike.baidu.com/view/48041.htm#2

Grace..

February 19,2012.