Feminists Components in a Rose for Emily Essay

Introduction

A Rose for Emily written by William Faulkner is a short narrative that echoes the spirit of the era when it was transcribed. It narrates a story of a woman known as Miss Emily Grierson a resident in Jefferson City although fictional, situated in Mississippi (Faulkner, 1930). The special and temporal setting of the story demonstrates its plot in two different dimensions which include the modern and the ancient era (Juan-Juan, 2008). One of the major characters, Miss Emily, existed between the two dimensions. Although she was an outcast to Jefferson's community, she was affected by the feminism approach of this society. Furthermore, A Rose for Emily is a form of peculiar social commentary that impeccably presents various duties and requirements of women, societal pressures, and ways in which society affected women (Maynard & Purvis, 2013). Therefore, there are interesting aspects of the story when assessed from the feminist viewpoint such as societal perception of female, puritan womanhood, and patriarchal chauvinism which makes it exceptional.

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Society's Perception of Women

Every human being exists and survives in a particular society which is driven by its distinct principles and customs. Mahoney (2015), defines society as a social institution that has an obligation to make a judgment and maintain pressures on individuals. Therefore, from his definition, individuals establish a strong sense of accountability for one another. Miss Emily, in A Rose for Emily, falls into this sense of responsibility for one another. Jefferson's community additionally feels that it is its responsibility to care for Emily and regulate her activities. In the entire story, Emily is professed by her surrounding as a dependent and weak woman (Maynard & Purvis, 2013). For instance, after the demise of her father, she is left alone in her home. Emily lacks a caring man, and hence the council of the town makes decisions intended to absolve her tax responsibilities. Additionally, her town population tries to cater to her needs by providing their sympathy and assistance. Furthermore, their attempt to be compassionate with her unconventionality such as keeping her father's corpse, purchasing a poison as well as dating Yankee (Faulkner, 1930). This kind of care the society gave Emily reveals woman perception during the time the story was written. This perception suggests that a woman is helpless when she does not have a man and hence a woman cannot function properly, remain mentally well, or earn herself a living.

Puritan Womanhood and its Influence

Another interesting aspect in A Rose for Emily is the type of influence womanhood received from puritans. Narveson (2016), describes Puritans as a cluster of individuals who developed discontent in the Church of England and functioned towards societal, moral, and religious reforms. The southerners in Jefferson acknowledged religion as the most influential and predominant factors which existed in their lives. Their origin, South, is recognized as the part of the country which strongly supported the Bible hence termed the Bible Belt. Thus, it should not be surprising that the southern individuals adhered to the convictions of the Bible which stated that a woman was the root of all complications and evils in the globe (Narveson, 2016). Additionally, they executed this belief intensely in their lives which perceived that the situation of woman inconceivably diminished. Also, females were inhibited, discriminated, and denied their individualities by men. Therefore, any desires regarding sexual satisfaction as well as daily lives were not only viewed as whims but also condemned. Miss Emily in some manner can be considered as a puritan womanhood victim. This is evident because of the fact that his father, Mr Grierson, dominated over her restricting her to enjoy life well. Additionally, this made Miss Emily regulate her desires in efforts to evade violating the standards and norms that the society imposed on her. Nonetheless, immediately after the demise of her father, Miss Emily started a love rapport with Homer Barron who was a Yankee (Faulkner, 1930). This act was sternly and inadmissibly condemned by the southern community. Therefore, because of this, Miss Emily change of conduct may be viewed as a form of protest against customs which were conventionally established for the decent conduct of humans. Remarkably, at this instance, Miss Emily performs everything that any feminist often performs. She protests against gender regulations and limitations imposed by forces of social patriarchal.

Patriarchal Chauvinism

Patriarchal chauvinism is also an aspect which appears to prevail in the entire story. According to Vijayalakshmi and Senthilkumar, (2015), patriarchal chauvinism denotes that it is usually one's father who enjoy the absolute influence in making decisions on affairs of a family. In A Rose for Emily, the author showcases the South as a region with a precise, family-based, and traditional defined social responsibilities. At the onset of the twentieth century, southern women were docile to men who also discriminated them. This is because it was men, primarily fathers, who always had governing powers and did not tolerate any opposition. Miss Emily can be viewed as an example of an individual who lived in her father's shadow or patriarchal chauvinism (Faulkner, 1930). Her father would not allow any man in Jefferson City to marry Miss Emily since he thought his daughter was too good for any man. This means that there was no man who had the best quality for Miss Emily. Therefore, she was isolated in this manner. This made Miss Emily not interact with external individuals in Jefferson. Additionally, she spoke with people only when they came over with her father. What is worse, is that even after the demise of his father she remained in her father's shadow. She did not want to dispose of his body which was the only way to escape from Mr Grierson's shadow.

Conclusion

A Rose for Emily reveals a perfectly rebuilt view of the southern society and its burdens. Although it is short, it is an appealing story which comments on the female interaction and position in the society. It shows how a woman is oppressed and repressed by men either her husband, lover, or father. A woman is forced and taught to live in accordance with the men defined rules and principles. Additionally, a woman's disobedience leads to isolation, disrespect, and condemnation. Thus, a woman persists in shadow restricting her to move over the scope of his performance and ability. What is worse, is that a woman is considered not self-sufficient, dependent, and weak by her society. All these components are strongly and clearly evident in A Rose for Emily. Therefore, with such multidimensional and intricate literature of William Faulkner, his audience can interpret this story on different levels and formulate different conclusions.

References

Faulkner, W. (1930). A rose for Emily. Paderborn, De: Verlag F. Schoningh.

Juan-Juan, W. E. I. (2008). The Cause of Emily's Tragedy--A Rose for Emily: An Interpretation from a Feminist Perspective [J]. Journal of Huaihua University, 1, 026.

Mahoney, E. R. (2015, June). Multicultural music therapy: An exploration. In Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy (Vol. 15, No. 2).

Maynard, M., & Purvis, J. (2013). Researching women's lives from a feminist perspective. Routledge.

Narveson, K. (2016). Bible readers and lay writers in early modern England: gender and self-definition in an emergent writing culture. Routledge.

Vijayalakshmi, V., & Senthilkumar, D. G. (2015). Quest for Feministic Identity in Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine. English Studies International Research Journal, 3(2), 177-179.