a rose for emily research paper topics

A Rose for Emily Research Paper Topics

This article introduces an exhaustive list of A Rose for Emily research paper topics , segmented into diverse categories for a tailored academic exploration. Delving into the intricate layers of Faulkner’s masterpiece, A Rose for Emily offers students a myriad of research avenues. From understanding its thematic richness to the story’s historical and socio-cultural context, the proposed A Rose for Emily research paper topics promise a comprehensive analysis. Additionally, readers will gain insights into selecting the right research topic and crafting an impactful paper. With iResearchNet’s bespoke writing services, students can further elevate their research journey, benefiting from our industry-leading expertise and unparalleled support.

100 A Rose for Emily Research Paper Topics

William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is not just a tale of a woman and her town, but it serves as a lens through which various aspects of the Southern United States and its intricate layers can be viewed. The story, enigmatic in its narration and profound in its themes, has been a favorite for literary critiques and students alike. Here, we offer a rich assortment of A Rose for Emily research paper topics spanning diverse categories to help you dive deep into the world of Emily Grierson and her hauntingly tragic life.

Academic Writing, Editing, Proofreading, And Problem Solving Services

Get 10% off with 24start discount code.

I. Thematic Explorations

• The decay of the Old South: Symbolism in A Rose for Emily.
• Exploring isolation and loneliness through Emily Grierson.
• The struggle for power: A study of gender roles in the story.
• The implications of tradition versus change in Faulkner’s narrative.
• Memory and the past: How Faulkner plays with time.
• The role of community: Its influence and judgment on individual lives.
• Love and obsession: Analyzing Emily’s relationship dynamics.
• Death as a recurring motif in A Rose for Emily.
• The psychological implications of Emily’s necrophilia.
• The house as a character: Symbolism and significance.

II. Historical and Socio-cultural Context

• The post-Civil War South and its reflection in A Rose for Emily.
• Class distinctions and their decay in Faulkner’s setting.
• Representations of racial relations in the story.
• Emily as a symbol of the declining aristocracy in the Southern states.
• Economic shifts and their influence on character behaviors.
• The changing role and perception of women in the South.
• The impact of industrialization reflected in Faulkner’s Jefferson.
• Southern gothic elements in A Rose for Emily.
• Post-war disillusionment: A reading of the town’s attitude.
• Faulkner’s own Mississippi: Real-life parallels in the story.

III. Character Analyses

• Emily Grierson: A character study of stagnation and decay.
• Homer Barron: An outsider’s role in a close-knit community.
• The town of Jefferson as an omnipresent narrator.
• The Griersons: A deeper look into family dynamics.
• Minor characters in the story and their symbolic roles.
• Analyzing the unnamed narrator: Importance and unreliability.
• The influence of Mr. Grierson on Emily’s psyche.
• Tobe: A silent observer’s perspective.
• Women in A Rose for Emily : Traditional versus defiant.
• The unseen characters: Their influence and implications in the narrative.

IV. Literary Devices and Techniques

• Faulkner’s use of a non-linear timeline: Effects and interpretations.
• Symbolism in A Rose for Emily : More than just metaphors.
• The significance of the story’s title and its multiple interpretations.
• Faulkner’s narrative technique: The collective voice.
• The use of foreshadowing in hinting at the story’s dark ending.
• The role of setting in establishing mood and atmosphere.
• Point of view in A Rose for Emily : How it shapes the story.
• Faulkner’s choice of language: The duality of beauty and decay.
• Analyzing the story’s climax: Shock, horror, and inevitability.
• The silence and the unsaid: Reading between the lines.

V. Comparative Analyses

• A Rose for Emily and other Faulkner works: Common threads.
• Contrasting Emily Grierson with other literary heroines of her time.
• The story in the context of Southern Gothic literature.
• A Rose for Emily and the works of Flannery O’Connor: A study of the grotesque.
• Comparing the town’s dynamics with other Faulkner settings.
• Isolation in A Rose for Emily versus other contemporary works.
• Power dynamics in the story compared to The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman.
• Exploring decay in A Rose for Emily and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.
• Love and obsession: A Rose for Emily and Wuthering Heights .
• The role of time in Faulkner’s story versus Virginia Woolf’s narratives.

VI. Adaptations and Media Interpretations

• The challenges and liberties of adapting A Rose for Emily for stage and screen.
• A study of the 1983 short film adaptation: Additions, omissions, and alterations.
• Exploring Faulkner’s story in modern popular culture references.
• The use of music and sound in portraying the eerie atmosphere of the tale in films.
• Reception and critique of A Rose for Emily in media adaptations.
• The implications of visualizing Emily: How different portrayals affect our understanding.
• Media’s influence on the story’s popularity among new generations.
• The challenge of representing the nonlinear timeline in movies and plays.
• Comparing the pacing and tension buildup in written versus adapted versions.
• How various adaptations have approached the story’s shocking climax.

VII. Modern Relevance

• A Rose for Emily in the context of contemporary discussions about mental health.
• The story’s portrayal of women: A modern feminist reading.
• Exploring themes of isolation in the age of social media, using Emily as a case study.
• The Grierson house in the story vs. modern architectural symbols of isolation and decay.
• Emily’s resistance to change in the context of today’s rapidly evolving world.
• The relevance of Faulkner’s depiction of race relations in today’s society.
• A Rose for Emily and the modern discourse on class and socioeconomic status.
• Reading Emily’s character in the light of modern psychological theories.
• The story’s take on patriarchal authority and its resonance in today’s world.
• Analyzing the town’s complicity and parallels with contemporary societal behaviors.

VIII. Critical Reception

• Initial reactions to A Rose for Emily upon its publication.
• How various literary movements and schools have interpreted the story over the decades.
• Critiques of Faulkner’s portrayal of the South.
• Analysis of feminist critiques of the story.
• The story’s place in academic curricula over the years.
• Shifts in the story’s interpretations among literary critics over time.
• The influence of cultural and societal changes on the story’s critical reception.
• How A Rose for Emily compares in critical reception to Faulkner’s other works.
• Exploring the most controversial debates surrounding the story.
• The role of A Rose for Emily in establishing Faulkner’s reputation as a literary giant.

IX. Future Predictions based on the Story

• How the themes of A Rose for Emily might evolve in future literary landscapes.
• Predicting the longevity of the story’s relevance in literary studies.
• The potential of A Rose for Emily in future media adaptations, including emerging formats.
• Anticipating future critical perspectives on Faulkner’s tale.
• How technological advancements might offer new insights or interpretations (e.g., virtual reality adaptations).
• The story’s potential influence on future Southern Gothic writers.
• A Rose for Emily in future discussions about the evolution of the American South.
• Predicting the place of the story in digital and interactive literature.
• The potential for A Rose for Emily to be reimagined in futuristic or speculative settings.
• The story’s potential role in discussions about preserving literary heritage in the digital age.

X. The Influence of Personal Experiences

• Faulkner’s personal experiences and their reflection in A Rose for Emily.
• How the town of Oxford, Mississippi, influenced the depiction of Jefferson.
• Personal tragedies in Faulkner’s life and their echoes in the story.
• Drawing parallels between Faulkner’s known relationships and the characters in the story.
• The influence of Faulkner’s own family history and Southern lineage.
• Analyzing the author’s known views on race, class, and gender in the context of the story.
• The impact of Faulkner’s experiences in World War I on his portrayal of decay and change.
• Exploring any autobiographical elements hinted at in the narrative.
• The story in the broader context of Faulkner’s life and career.
• How A Rose for Emily might have been a reflection of Faulkner’s fears and aspirations.

In conclusion, A Rose for Emily is a literary gem that offers myriad avenues for research and exploration. A Rose for Emily research paper topics listed above are just the tip of the iceberg, and each one opens doors to new interpretations and insights. Whether you choose to delve deep into character analyses, explore the historical context, or draw comparisons with other literary works, you’re bound to unravel new layers of Faulkner’s masterpiece.

A Rose for Emily and the Range of Research Paper Topics It Offers

In the annals of American literature, William Faulkner stands as a titan, weaving tales that capture the essence, conflicts, and nuances of the American South. One of his most studied and enigmatic stories, A Rose for Emily , is a testament to his genius, offering readers a haunting exploration of isolation, resistance to change, and the passage of time. Given its depth and intricacy, it is no surprise that it has become a cornerstone in literary discussions and academic curricula.

At its core, A Rose for Emily narrates the life of Miss Emily Grierson, a woman who becomes an object of fascination, critique, pity, and horror in the town of Jefferson. The story presents a non-linear account of her life, from her youthful days of promise to her reclusive years and eventual death. Throughout, Faulkner masterfully uses Emily as a lens to reflect on broader themes, including the Old South’s decline, the encroachment of modernity, race relations, and the complexities of interpersonal relationships.

This narrative’s layered nature presents a plethora of avenues for academic exploration. Literary enthusiasts can delve into character studies, understanding the enigmatic Emily or dissecting the town of Jefferson’s collective psyche. Then there’s the theme of time, with Faulkner’s innovative non-linear storytelling inviting interpretations about memory, history, and change. Questions regarding gender roles, societal expectations, and the consequences of stringent societal norms are rife in Emily’s tragic tale.

Further deepening the richness of research possibilities are the story’s various adaptations and the critical reception it has garnered over the decades. Scholars can examine how A Rose for Emily has been translated to stage, screen, and other media forms. How do these adaptations respect Faulkner’s vision, and where do they divert? Such discussions pave the way for a meta-analysis of the story within the broader context of cultural evolution and shifting societal values.

Modern relevance is another intriguing domain. In an age defined by rapid technological advances, burgeoning discussions on mental health, and evolving social norms, where does Emily Grierson fit? Can her isolation and the town’s voyeuristic tendencies be related to today’s digital age, where social media often plays the dual role of connecting and alienating?

The beauty of A Rose for Emily is its enduring relevance and the multitude of lenses through which it can be viewed. Whether it’s a deep dive into Southern Gothic elements, a study of its cultural and historical backdrop, or a psychological exploration of its characters, the story remains a fertile ground for research and discussion. For students and scholars alike, the narrative holds the promise of unending discovery, ensuring that Emily’s rose, though withered with time, never truly fades.

How to Choose A Rose for Emily Research Paper Topics

Choosing A Rose for Emily research paper topics can be both an exhilarating and daunting task. The richness of Faulkner’s narrative, combined with its multifaceted characters and intricate themes, opens up a treasure trove of possibilities. Yet, with such an abundance of avenues to explore, where does one begin? The following comprehensive guide aims to simplify this process by offering valuable insights and structured steps:

• Start with Personal Interest: Begin by identifying what personally resonates with you in the story. Whether it’s the depiction of Emily’s mental decline, the town’s collective attitude, or Faulkner’s narrative style, choose an angle that genuinely intrigues you. Passion is the driving force behind compelling research.
• Re-read the Text: Before settling on a specific topic, re-read A Rose for Emily with a fresh set of eyes. As you do so, take notes on recurring themes, symbols, or character dynamics that stand out.
• Broaden Your Context: While the story itself is a rich source, expand your horizon by understanding the historical, cultural, and societal backdrop of the American South in which Faulkner wrote. This can provide crucial context and introduce new angles of interpretation.
• Engage with Existing Research: Before delving into your research, review existing scholarly articles, essays, and critiques on the story. This will not only offer new perspectives but will also help in identifying gaps in the existing body of research.
• Focus on Character Dynamics: Faulkner’s characters are not mere fictional constructs but represent broader societal norms, values, and prejudices. Exploring the relationships and dynamics between characters can lead to rich analytical discussions.
• Consider Structure and Style: Faulkner’s non-linear narrative and intricate prose are ripe for exploration. Delve into his narrative techniques, symbolism, or even his use of imagery and metaphors.
• Evaluate Societal Themes: A Rose for Emily is rife with themes ranging from the impact of societal expectations to the intricacies of race relations in the South. Choose a theme that aligns with broader societal issues, making your research more relevant and contemporary.
• Combine Themes for Depth: Instead of focusing on a single theme or character, consider interweaving multiple themes. For instance, how does the town’s perception of gender roles intersect with their treatment of Emily? Such an interdisciplinary approach can add layers to your analysis.
• Stay Open to Evolving Ideas: While it’s essential to begin with a clear research question, allow your topic to evolve as you delve deeper into the text and supplementary resources. Often, the best insights emerge when one is flexible in their approach.
• Seek Feedback: Once you’ve narrowed down your topic, discuss it with peers, instructors, or mentors. External perspectives can offer valuable feedback, refine your ideas, or even introduce you to novel angles you hadn’t considered.

In conclusion, selecting A Rose for Emily research paper topics is a journey of discovery. By integrating personal passion with a structured approach and seeking continuous growth and refinement, you’ll not only arrive at a compelling topic but also embark on a rewarding academic adventure. Remember, the beauty of literature lies in its ability to offer new insights with each reading. Embrace this dynamism, and let your research be a testament to Faulkner’s enduring legacy.

How to Write a A Rose for Emily Research Paper

Writing a research paper on a literary work like A Rose for Emily requires more than just an understanding of the text. It necessitates a blend of analytical prowess, thorough research, and a structured approach. Crafting an impeccable paper on such a masterpiece can be intimidating, but with the right strategy, the process can be streamlined and even enjoyable. Let’s delve into a comprehensive guide to ensure your paper stands out:

• Understanding the Story’s Core: Before anything else, ensure you thoroughly understand A Rose for Emily . This might sound fundamental, but many students rush through their initial reading. Spend time analyzing the main plot, character motivations, and the narrative’s central themes.
• Develop a Strong Thesis: Your thesis is the foundation of your paper. It should be specific and arguable. For instance, rather than saying “The story explores themes of isolation,” you might argue, “Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily utilizes the decaying Grierson house as a symbol of Emily’s increasing isolation from society.”
• Research Extensively: Beyond the text, delve into secondary sources such as scholarly articles, critical essays, and historical documents related to the setting and period of the story. Familiarize yourself with Faulkner’s other works and the broader literary and cultural context of his time.
• Outline Your Paper: An outline helps in organizing your thoughts and ensuring that every argument flows logically into the next. Start with an introduction, followed by your main arguments, and then a conclusion. Under each section, jot down the main points or evidence you wish to include.
• Write with Clarity: Given the intricate nature of Faulkner’s narrative, clarity in expression is crucial. Avoid convoluted sentences and ensure each paragraph has a clear main idea that supports your overall thesis.
• Incorporate Direct Quotations: Using direct quotes from the story can bolster your arguments. However, ensure they are relevant to your point and are appropriately cited.
• Discuss Symbolism and Imagery: A Rose for Emily is rife with symbolism, from the decaying house to the strand of hair. Analyze these symbols in depth, linking them to your main arguments and the broader themes of the story.
• Maintain Objectivity: While personal opinions and interpretations are integral to literary analysis, ensure your arguments are rooted in evidence from the text or reputable secondary sources.
• Revise Multiple Times: Once your first draft is complete, set it aside for a day or two. Return to it with fresh eyes, refining your arguments, ensuring cohesiveness, and rectifying any grammatical errors. Peer reviews can also be invaluable at this stage.
• Conclude Strongly: Your conclusion should not merely be a summary. Instead, it should wrap up your arguments and offer broader insights or implications of your analysis. For instance, how does the isolation depicted in A Rose for Emily compare to modern-day societal isolation?

Additional Tips:

• Contextual Analysis: Dive into the historical and cultural backdrop of the American South during the time Faulkner wrote. How do societal norms of the time shape the story’s characters and events?
• Character Analysis: Spend time dissecting the psychology and motivations of Emily, the townspeople, and other pivotal characters. How do their actions and reactions drive the story forward?
• Formatting and Citations: Ensure that your paper adheres to the required format, be it APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, or Harvard. Properly cite all your sources to avoid plagiarism.

In sum, writing a research paper on A Rose for Emily is an opportunity to delve deep into Faulkner’s mesmerizing world. With methodical preparation, rigorous analysis, and a passion for the narrative, your paper can capture the essence of the story and offer fresh insights that resonate with readers. Remember, every literary exploration is a journey – savor the process, and let your insights illuminate Faulkner’s timeless narrative.

iResearchNet Writing Services

For custom a rose for emily research paper.

For literature enthusiasts, Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily represents an intriguing narrative that weaves together themes of decay, memory, isolation, and societal transformation. It’s a story that can be analyzed from countless angles, making it a popular choice for research papers. But writing a paper on such a complex work can be challenging, even for the most adept literature students. This is where iResearchNet steps in, offering premium writing services tailored to your specific needs. Allow us to take you through the unparalleled advantages we provide:

• Expert Degree-Holding Writers: Our team is composed of writers who not only hold advanced degrees but also specialize in literature. They are seasoned in analyzing Faulkner’s works, ensuring your research paper captures the depth and nuances of A Rose for Emily.
• Custom Written Works: Your academic requirements are unique, and we respect that. Every research paper we craft is tailored to your specific guidelines, questions, and analytical perspective, making it original and in-sync with your academic objectives.
• In-depth Research: Beyond just the narrative, our writers dive into a multitude of secondary sources, ranging from critical essays to scholarly articles and historical documents, ensuring your paper offers a well-rounded and comprehensive analysis.
• Custom Formatting: Whether you require APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, or Harvard formatting, our team is proficient in all. Each paper is meticulously formatted to meet the highest academic standards.
• Top Quality: We take immense pride in the quality of our work. Our research papers undergo rigorous quality checks, ensuring they are insightful, cohesive, and free from any grammatical or factual errors.
• Customized Solutions: Whether you’re looking for a broad analysis of the entire story or a deep dive into a specific theme or character, we offer solutions tailored to your research needs.
• Flexible Pricing: We understand the financial constraints students often face. Hence, we offer competitive prices, ensuring you get premium quality without straining your budget.
• Short Deadlines – Up to 3 Hours: Procrastinated a bit too much? Don’t worry. Our writers are adept at crafting high-quality papers under tight deadlines, ensuring you never miss a submission date.
• Timely Delivery: We respect your deadlines, always. Every paper is delivered promptly, giving you ample time for revisions or personal refinements.
• 24/7 Support: Whether you have a query, need an update, or simply wish to discuss your paper, our support team is available round the clock, ensuring you’re never left in the dark.
• Absolute Privacy: Your privacy is paramount. All personal and academic details you share remain confidential, ensuring you can trust us without reservations.
• Easy Order Tracking: With our user-friendly interface, you can track the progress of your paper in real-time, ensuring transparency and peace of mind.
• Money Back Guarantee: Your satisfaction is our reward. However, if for any reason you feel the paper does not meet your expectations, we offer a money-back guarantee, underscoring our commitment to quality and customer satisfaction.

In conclusion, A Rose for Emily is a literary gem, deserving of a research paper that does justice to its intricate layers and themes. At iResearchNet, we combine expertise, dedication, and customized care to craft a paper that stands out, resonates with the richness of Faulkner’s narrative, and secures the academic recognition you aim for. Let us be your partners in this literary journey, ensuring your exploration of Emily’s enigmatic world is insightful, comprehensive, and impeccably presented.

Embark on a Faulknerian Adventure with iResearchNet

The intricate labyrinths of Faulkner’s narratives beckon scholars and enthusiasts alike, inviting them to unravel the rich tapestries of Southern life, tradition, and human psychology. A Rose for Emily, in particular, stands as a testament to Faulkner’s unparalleled storytelling prowess, delving deep into the recesses of human isolation, societal change, and the inexorable march of time. As you stand at the cusp of this literary journey, seeking to explore, analyze, and understand the enigmatic world of Emily Grierson, iResearchNet is here to guide you every step of the way.

• Experience Expert Guidance: Traversing Faulkner’s prose can be akin to navigating a maze with its winding narrative paths and multilayered themes. With iResearchNet, you’re not alone. Our literary experts, seasoned in Faulkner’s works, will illuminate the darkest corners of the story, ensuring your research is comprehensive and insightful.
• Craft a Legacy: Just as Emily left an indelible mark on her town, so can your research on her story. With our impeccable writing and analytical services, your paper will stand out, making a memorable impact on your readers and academic peers.
• Ease Your Academic Journey: Literature, while enriching, can be demanding. Our commitment is to ease your academic challenges, providing top-tier research papers that not only meet but exceed your expectations. Every narrative thread, every symbol, and every character nuance will be explored with precision, allowing your passion for literature to truly shine.

It’s time. Time to immerse yourself in the haunting beauty of Faulkner’s South, to engage with the melancholy, the decay, and the deep-seated traditions that permeate A Rose for Emily. And as you embark on this Faulknerian adventure, let iResearchNet be your trusted companion. Our expertise, dedication, and unwavering commitment to excellence will ensure that your literary expedition is nothing short of outstanding.

Dive deep into Faulkner’s world. Embark on your literary journey with iResearchNet now!

ORDER HIGH QUALITY CUSTOM PAPER

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

102 A Rose for Emily Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Title: 102 A Rose for Emily Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Introduction: William Faulkner's iconic short story "A Rose for Emily" has captivated readers for decades with its intricate narrative style and thought-provoking themes. If you have been assigned an essay on this literary masterpiece, you may find yourself searching for the perfect topic that allows you to delve into the story's layers and explore its various elements. To assist you in this endeavor, here are 102 essay topic ideas and examples that will help you craft a compelling analysis of "A Rose for Emily."

Section 1: Themes and Symbolism

• The theme of time in "A Rose for Emily": How does Faulkner use time to create a sense of decay and nostalgia?
• The symbolism of Emily's house: Analyze the significance of Emily's house as a representation of her mental state.
• The theme of isolation and loneliness: Discuss how Faulkner portrays Emily's isolation and its impact on her life.
• The significance of the rose in the title: Explore the symbolic meaning behind the rose and its connection to Emily's story.
• The theme of death and decay: Examine the recurring motif of death and decay throughout the story.
• The role of gender in "A Rose for Emily": Analyze the portrayal of gender dynamics and their influence on Emily's life.
• The theme of love and obsession: Discuss the blurred boundaries between love and obsession in the relationship between Emily and Homer.
• The symbolism of dust and decay: Interpret the symbolic meaning of dust and decay in relation to Emily's life and the town.
• The theme of tradition and change: Explore how the clash between tradition and progress shapes the narrative.
• The significance of the Grierson family name: Analyze the symbolic importance of the Grierson family name and its influence on Emily's character.

Section 2: Character Analysis

• Emily Grierson's character evolution: Trace the transformation of Emily's character throughout the story.
• The role of Emily's father in shaping her personality: Discuss the impact of Emily's father on her actions and choices.
• The portrayal of Emily as a victim: Analyze the ways in which Emily is a victim of societal expectations and her own circumstances.
• The character of Homer Barron: Examine Homer's role in the story and his significance to Emily's life.
• The townspeople's perception of Emily: Discuss how the townspeople view Emily and how their perception shapes the story.
• Emily's relationship with her community: Analyze the dynamic between Emily and the townspeople, focusing on power dynamics.
• The town as a character: Explore the collective personality and influence of the town as a character in the story.
• The significance of Tobe: Discuss Tobe's role as an enigmatic character and his loyalty to Emily.
• Emily's mental state: Analyze Emily's mental state and its impact on her actions and relationships.
• The theme of generational divide: Discuss the contrasting perspectives of the older and younger generation in the story.

Section 3: Narrative Techniques

• The use of foreshadowing in "A Rose for Emily": Analyze Faulkner's employment of foreshadowing and its impact on the story's structure.
• The unreliable narrator: Discuss the reliability of the narrator and its effect on the reader's interpretation of events.
• The non-linear narrative structure: Examine Faulkner's use of non-linear storytelling and its significance in understanding Emily's story.
• The role of flashbacks: Analyze the purpose and impact of the numerous flashbacks in the narrative.
• The significance of the story's opening sentence: Discuss the importance of Faulkner's opening line and its foreshadowing effect.
• The use of imagery: Explore the vivid imagery employed by Faulkner and its contribution to the story's atmosphere.
• The role of suspense and tension: Discuss how Faulkner builds suspense and tension throughout the story.
• The narrative point of view: Analyze the narrative perspective and how it shapes the reader's understanding of the story.
• The use of irony: Examine the instances of irony in the story and their contribution to its overall meaning.
• The theme of hidden truths: Discuss the concept of hidden truths and their revelation throughout the narrative.

Section 4: Social and Historical Context

• The influence of the Southern Gothic genre: Analyze the characteristics of Southern Gothic literature present in "A Rose for Emily."
• The impact of the Civil War on the story: Discuss how the Civil War backdrop shapes the narrative and its characters.
• The representation of Southern aristocracy: Examine how Faulkner portrays the declining Southern aristocracy in the story.
• The influence of the Lost Cause narrative: Discuss the connection between the Lost Cause narrative and Emily's character.
• The depiction of racial tensions: Analyze the racial tensions and dynamics prevalent in the story.
• The role of class in the narrative: Discuss the influence of social class on the characters and their interactions.
• The representation of women in Faulkner's time: Analyze the portrayal of women in the story and their societal roles.
• The impact of the Great Depression: Discuss how the Great Depression's influence is reflected in the narrative.
• The significance of Southern customs and traditions: Explore the importance of Southern customs and traditions in the story.
• The influence of Faulkner's own background on the narrative: Discuss how Faulkner's own experiences and background shape the story's themes.

Conclusion: With these 102 essay topic ideas and examples, you are equipped to embark on a captivating analysis of "A Rose for Emily." Remember to choose a topic that resonates with you and allows you to explore the story's rich symbolism, themes, characters, and narrative techniques. Take this opportunity to delve into the depths of Faulkner's masterpiece and present a compelling and insightful interpretation of "A Rose for Emily."

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

• Comparative Literature Research Topics Topics: 302
• Harper Lee Topics Topics: 51
• Beowulf Topics Topics: 106
• Heart of Darkness Paper Topics Topics: 50
• Beloved Topics Topics: 47
• The Necklace Paper Topics Topics: 83
• A Streetcar Named Desire Topics Topics: 49
• Oedipus the King Research Topics Topics: 73
• The Things They Carried Essay Topics Topics: 108
• Night by Elie Wiesel Essay Topics Topics: 140
• Edgar Allan Poe Research Topics Topics: 94
• A Good Man is Hard to Find Research Topics Topics: 84
• The Lottery Topics Topics: 133
• Homer Paper Topics Topics: 118
• Young Goodman Brown Paper Topics Topics: 84

101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics

🏆 best essay topics on a rose for emily, 🌶️ hot a rose for emily essay topics, 🎓 most interesting a rose for emily research titles, 💡 simple a rose for emily essay ideas, ❓ a rose for emily essay questions.

• Irony in Everything That Rises Must Converge and A Rose for Emily
• “A Rose for Emily”: The Plot Analysis
• A Rose for Emily: Gothic Elements
• “Rose for Emily” and “Barn Burning” Comparison
• Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• The Short Story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• “A Rose for Emily”: Violence and Mental Illness in William Faulkner’s Short Story
• Formalist Criticism of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner The analysis of “A Rose for Emily” while adopting formalist techniques can help better understand the social climate of the time demonstrated by Faulkner.
• Gothic in “A Rose for Emily” and “Young Goodman Brown” In his article “The Gothic Other”, Ron Burton is making a good point when he says: “One of the most intriguing aspects of American Romanticism is the Gothic element.
• “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper”: Similarities and Differences The main difference between “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” lies in the sending of the authors or the main themes of the works.
• The Character of Miss Emily in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” In Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily,” Miss Emily is an especially complex and interesting character who is undoubtedly worth deep consideration.
• Social Classes and Discrimination in “A Rose for Emily” “A Rose for Emily” demonstrates Emily’s social class and biases through Emily’s bravery and arrogant and dignified attitudes towards community members from lower social classes.
• The Story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner “A Rose for Emily”by William Faulkner is a story about Southern society in the early 1920s and the traditions that governed it.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” & “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Perkins-Gillman The stories “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wall-Paper” have similar and different features, which are manifested through the authors’ use of the elements of gothic literature.
• Short Story Analysis “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner The short story shows the way women had to live in the first part of the twentieth century, is a tribute to all women who had to suffer from such oppression.
• “A Rose for Emily” by Faulkner and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by O’Connor Moral corruption is one of the central themes of Southern Gothic. This literary genre frequently features characters that are thoroughly debased to the point of being grotesque.
• Literary Analysis of “A Rose for Emily” by W. Faulkner William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” abounds in various literary techniques. His short stories are always very interesting but too tangle.
• William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily Story Analysis William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily is a well-known short story that belongs in the gothic genre. In this piece, Faulkner paints a sorrowful and memorable picture of a lady.
• Gender Inequality in “The Yellow Wallpaper”, “A Rose for Emily”, and “Trifels” The paper focuses on analyzing A Rose for Emily, written by William Faulkner, The Yellow Wallpaper, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman, and Susan Glaspell’s Trifles.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” vs. O’Connor’s “A Good Man…” “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor show the complex relationship between the past and the present.
• Character Portrayal in Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily The story’s main character is Emily Grierson, a lady who lived with her father until his death. Before the demise of her father, she was asked not to marry.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” vs. Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper” The paper compares Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” and Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”, highlighting their differences in terms of themes, genre, and female protagonists.
• Narrative Perspective of “A Rose for Emily” by William Falkner William Falkner’s “A Rose for Emily” Narrator’s word choice and attitude towards Emily gives us good insight into the character of Tobe, Emily’s faithful servant.
• The Main Character in A Rose for Emily This paper examines grotesque in A Rose for Emily, which is depicted through the physical portrayal of Emily, her psychological states, and the idea of hybridity – past and present.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”: Analysis of the Plot The short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner has a solid plot and barely any weaknesses. The story starts with a strong exposition about a funeral.
• The Topic of the Authority of the Patriarchy in “A Rose for Emily” In Faulkner’s story “A Rose for Emily,” several important topics and concepts influence the way the readers perceive this literary piece.
• Point of View in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” A Rose for Emily is a short story by Faulkner in which he utilizes a first-person plural point of view, representing the town where she lived.
• Researches Devoted to the Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” This annotated bibliography contains reviews of the three articles reflecting on a famous Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily.”
• Theme of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner In his short story “A Rose for Emily,” the author William Faulkner creates a contradictory image of the main character; the author leads the reader to discover who she is.
• Review of “A Rose for Emily” Story The short story “A Rose for Emily” describes the life of a lonely woman in the period after the Civil War and contains a great number of in-depth meanings.
• Literary Criticism of Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” The varying critics’ opinions on William Faulkner and, specifically, his work “A Rose for Emily” were shaped under the influence of historical trends.
• Analysis of “A Rose for Emily” Story by William Faulkner “A Rose for Emily” is a famous William Faulkner story primarily notable for its narrator’s point of view and intricate chronological sequence of events.
• Analysis of the Book “Rose for Emily” In the book “Rose for Emily”, Faulkner addresses the topics of obsession and unwillingness to accept the natural changes that come with the time.
• Setting Matters: “Cat in the Rain”, “A Rose for Emily” The setting can play a central role in telling a story, it contributes to meaning-making and characters’ development, like in “Cat in the Rain” and “A Rose for Emily”.
• A Rose for Emily Literary Analysis The story “A Rose for Emily” by Faulkner contains many premises of different genres which are mainly Realism and Southern Gothic.
• A Rose for Emily Summary “A Rose for Emily” possesses all the signature characteristics of Faulkner’s writing style: its experimentality, close attention to cadence and love for grotesque.
• The Stories of Mental Illness: “A Rose for Emily” and “The Tell-Tale Heart” The essay examines the differences and similarities in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Poe in terms of literary devices and meanings.
• “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel G. Marquez & “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner This discussion gives a detailed comparison of how the authors of “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” and “A Rose for Emily” depict villages and towns.
• “A Rose for Emily” by W. Faulkner and “The Yellow Wallpaper” by C. Perkin “A Rose for Emily” and “The Yellow Wallpaper” are focused on female protagonists who experience some form of life-changing isolation.
• Comparative Analysis “A Rose for Emily” and “Short Days, Dog Days” Comparative analysis of the characters of two literary works “A Rose for Emily” and “Short Days, Dog Days” shows the presence of similar and different features.
• “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner Analysis The following essay discusses the importance of questionable objectivity and an unorthodox choice of a narrator in the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner.
• The Story ‘A Rose for Emily’ by Faulkner The story A Rose for Emily by Faulkner is being told in several time periods not following one after another linearly. This is called nonlinear narrative.
• “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner Review Miss Emily, the central figure of the story, is described as an isolated character living in the atmosphere of totalitarian upbringing and her actions underline denial of reality.
• Analyzing the Short Story: A Rose for Emily Faulkner’s story ‘A Rose for Emily’ explains the story of Emily Grierson. Emily Grierson is a strong woman with a great sense of tradition and very dynamic character.
• A Rose for Emily The essay analyzes the short story “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and describes the specific theme of the story.
• Old South Social Structure in “A Rose for Emily” by W. Faulkner “A Rose for Emily” tells the tale of a woman named Miss Emily Grierson living in the southern parts of the country with its depleting social structure.
• William Faulkner’s World Revealed in “A Rose for Emily” Faulkner reveals the sense of deep change that had the entire South unsettled as in the disjointed sense of time found in his popular story “A Rose for Emily.”
• Essay on a Rose for Emily “A Rose for Emily” is a beautiful short story written by William Faulkner in which the writer uses new structural devices of story telling.
• Short Fiction. ‘A Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner This work is an overall analysis of the short story ‘A Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner, that highlights various aspects of forms in literature
• Stylistic Devices in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” The paper analyzes how Faulkner used various stylistic devices and combined them with the untraditional development of action in “A Rose for Emily”.
• A Rose for Emily and Angels in America Literature Analysis The story “Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner has a few fascinating features which changed the readers mind completely, from the feminist point of view.
• Conflict in A Rose for Emily Essay Example The short story A Rose for Emily takes on a sinister path because of the happenings seen throughout the plot up to the end.
• William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” Literature Analysis Faulkner displays to the audience that, due to Rose’s unwillingness to accept the unbearable truth, the lead character was bound to carry the burden of a terrible secret and commit a murder.
• Literature Resources in William Faulkner’s “A Rose, for Emily” This paper analyzes William Faulkner’s “A Rose, for Emily” in order to see peculiarities of the usage of such resources of literature as plot, characters, and stylistic devices.
• Theory of Symbolism in a Reading of “A Rose For Emily” by William Faulkner and “The Symbol” by Virginia Woolf The brightest representatives of this style are considered to be Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, and Dorothy Richardson, who were followed by many others.
• Describing the Antagonist Emily in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
• The Experience, Interpretation, and Evaluation of a Short Story in “A Rose for Emily”, a Short Story by William Faulkner
• Humanizing Morally Reprehensible Characters: Finding Sympathy for Protagonists in “A Rose for Emily”
• Applying Freud’s Psychoanalytic Theory to William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
• The Central Theme and Symbolism of William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
• Going Beyond the Meaning in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• Past Contrasted With Present in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
• Sexism, Racism, and Class in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• Ghost Story: An Analysis of “A Rose for Emily”
• Miss Emily’s Male Interaction in “A Rose for Emily”
• The Factors That Form the Character Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• Piecing Together the Puzzle: Flashbacks and Foreshadowing in “A Rose for Emily”
• Architecture, Emily and Homer’s Relationship, and the Language in “A Rose for Emily”
• Exploring the Many Archetypes in the Story “A Rose for Emily”
• Emily Grierson’s Need for Control in Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
• Keeping the Past Alive in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• Plot and Element Analysis of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• Review of Decay and Decline in “A Rose for Emily”
• Domestic Violence – Literary Analysis of “A Rose for Emily”
• Miss Emily’s Unstable State of Mind in the Short Story, “A Rose for Emily”
• The Changing Verbal Portraits of Emily in “A Rose for Emily”
• What Strengths and Weaknesses of Miss Emily Grierson Are Portrayed in “A Rose for Emily”?
• How Does the Narrator’s Role as the Townspeople in General Help Set the Reader up for the Twist at the End in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Was Emily’s Attitude Towards the Men in Her Life in “A Rose for Emily”?
• How Does William Faulkner Reveal Character in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Does the Ending of “A Rose for Emily” Mean?
• Is “A Rose for Emily” About Death?
• What Are the Killings’ Motivations in “A Rose for Emily”?
• Is There the Interaction Between Characters in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner?
• What Is So Scandalous About Emily Grierson’s Relationship With Homer Barron in “A Rose for Emily”?
• How Is Female Sexuality Addressed in “A Rose for Emily”?
• Why Is the Story Titled “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Are Some Literary Devices in “A Rose for Emily”?
• Does William Faulkner Use Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Details Support That Faulkner Uses Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily”?
• How Did the Community Regard Miss Emily in “A Rose for Emily”? Do They Like or Dislike Her?
• Was Emily’s Father Abusive in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Is the Central/Primary Purpose of the Story “A Rose for Emily”?
• A Rose for Emily: Why Does Faulkner Present the Story’s Events in Non-chronological Order?
• What Type of Conflict Is “A Rose for Emily”?
• Why Was Homer Murdered by Emily in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner?
• How Does the Narrator’s Opinion of Miss Emily Change Throughout “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Is the Main Message of “A Rose for Emily”?
• Is Emily a Villain in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Mental Illness Did Emily Have in “A Rose for Emily”?
• How Does “A Rose for Emily” Reflect Society’s Ideals for the Victorian Woman?

Cite this post

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2021, December 21). 101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/a-rose-for-emily-essay-topics/

"101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics." StudyCorgi , 21 Dec. 2021, studycorgi.com/ideas/a-rose-for-emily-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . (2021) '101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics'. 21 December.

1. StudyCorgi . "101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics." December 21, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/a-rose-for-emily-essay-topics/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics." December 21, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/a-rose-for-emily-essay-topics/.

StudyCorgi . 2021. "101 A Rose for Emily Essay Topics." December 21, 2021. https://studycorgi.com/ideas/a-rose-for-emily-essay-topics/.

These essay examples and topics on A Rose for Emily were carefully selected by the StudyCorgi editorial team. They meet our highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, and fact accuracy. Please ensure you properly reference the materials if you’re using them to write your assignment.

This essay topic collection was updated on January 5, 2024 .

• Call to +1 (844) 889-9952

68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples

📝 a rose for emily research papers examples, 💡 essay ideas on a rose for emily, ✍️ a rose for emily essay topics for college, ❓ a rose for emily research questions.

• "A Rose for Emily" a Short Story by William Faulkner "A Rose for Emily" written by William Faulkner, tells of the death of Emily Grierson. Typical of his works, Faulkner uses the setting in this story as a miniature of the south.
• Time in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner This essay describes Miss Emily Grierson from William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” , some very strange and unusual behavior of her, her response to her father’s death and her reaction to Homer Barron.
• A Rose for Emily Literary Analysis This literary analysis essay focuses on A Rose for Emily – a short story by William Faulkner. It provides a summary and a critical analysis of A Rose for Emily themes and message.
• A Rose for Emily Point of View & the Role of Narrator This essay focuses on the point of view in A Rose for Emily. It explains why Faulkner used first person plural in the short story’s narration: ‘we’ represented a collective image of the town society.
• Emily Grierson in ‘A Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner W. Faulkner in "A Rose for Emily" illuminates the relations between society and Emily, a typical outsider, a lonely isolated person, whose feelings are hidden behind the walls of her house.
• "Barn Burning" and "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner The short stories named "A Rose for Emily" and "Barn Burning" are vivid examples of the author's creativity, which have simultaneously similar and contrasting traits.
• A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner: A Review A Rose for Emily is a story published by a prominent American writer, William Faulkner. The writing style has rather a descriptive nature.
• Symbolism in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner The Rose for Emily story by William Faulkner shows people preparing to welcome the future by letting go of their past.
• Analyzing the Enigmatic Character of Emily Grierson
• Southern Gothic Elements in “A Rose for Emily”
• The Role of Tradition in Emily’s Tragic Story
• Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily”: Rose
• Theme of Isolation in Faulkner’s Masterpiece
• A Psychological Analysis of Emily Grierson
• Analyzing Portrayals of Emily Grierson in Adaptations
• Time and Temporality in “A Rose for Emily”
• Southern Landscape in Faulkner’s Novels
• The Influence of Gender Roles in Emily’s Life
• Comparing Emily Grierson to Other Tragic Heroines in Literature
• The Significance of the Grierson House
• Faulkner’s Narrative Style in “A Rose for Emily”
• Emily Grierson and the Theme of Control
• The Enigmatic Nature of Emily Grierson
• Love and Loss in the Life of Emily Grierson
• The Post-Civil War South in “A Rose for Emily”
• Feminist Readings of Emily Grierson
• The Impact of Death and Decay in Grierson Family
• Gender Roles in the South: Emily’s Character From “A Rose for Emily”
• “A Rose for Emily” – Love and Isolation
• Faulkner’s Exploration of Race and Class in the American South
• Reinterpreting Emily Grierson’s Actions in a Modern Context
• Southern Gothic Elements in Emily Grierson’s Story
• Emily Grierson: Societal Expectations of Women
• Homer Barron Character Analysis in “A Rose for Emily”
• The Role of Time in Emily Grierson’s Life
• The Legacy of Emily Grierson: Subsequent Literature
• Symbolism of Emily Grierson’s Decaying Mansion
• The Influence of Emily Grierson’s Father on Her Behavior
• The Role of Gossip and Small Town Mentality in “A Rose for Emily”
• Deconstructing Gender Roles in William Faulkner Literature
• Modern Interpretations of a Classic Character in “A Rose for Emily”
• Emily Grierson Impact on the Town of Jefferson
• Faulkner’s Storytelling Techniques
• Psychological Depth in William Faulkner Novels
• Emily as a Victim in “A Rose for Emily”
• Reasons of Emily’s Tragic Fate in “A Rose for Emily”
• Understanding the Title of “A Rose for Emily”
• Tradition vs Modernity: Resistance in “A Rose for Emily”
• How Faulkner Plays With Chronology in “A Rose for Emily”?
• Is “A Rose for Emily” Tragic Romance or Something Else?
• How the Themes of “A Rose for Emily” Resonate in Today’s?
• What Does the Rose Signify in Faulkner’s Story?
• How the Town of Jefferson Shapes the Events in “A Rose for Emily”?
• Is Emily Grierson a Tragic Heroine or Villain?
• How Emily Grierson Subverts Traditional Southern Femininity?
• Was Emily Grierson Truly Mad?
• How Faulkner Revolutionized American Literature?
• How “A Rose for Emily” Weaponizes Nostalgia?
• What the Examples of Symbolism in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Is the Main Point of “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Is “A Rose for Emily” Summary?
• What Are Examples of Character Development in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Does the Antagonist Represent in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Exactly Happened With Emily in “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Role Does the Narrator of “A Rose for Emily” Play?
• Why Is “A Rose for Emily” Hard to Read?
• What Is the Moral Lesson of the Story “A Rose for Emily”?
• What Does Homer Barron Represent in “A Rose for Emily”?

Cite this page

Select style

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

Premium Papers. (2024, February 15). 68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples. https://premium-papers.com/topics/a-rose-for-emily-research-topics/

"68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples." Premium Papers , 15 Feb. 2024, premium-papers.com/topics/a-rose-for-emily-research-topics/.

Premium Papers . (2024) '68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples'. 15 February.

Premium Papers . 2024. "68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples." February 15, 2024. https://premium-papers.com/topics/a-rose-for-emily-research-topics/.

1. Premium Papers . "68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples." February 15, 2024. https://premium-papers.com/topics/a-rose-for-emily-research-topics/.

Bibliography

Premium Papers . "68 A Rose for Emily Research Topics & Essay Examples." February 15, 2024. https://premium-papers.com/topics/a-rose-for-emily-research-topics/.

The South is Wilting | An analysis on A Rose for Emily

In 1860 the American South seceded from the Union to preserve their Southern way of life this consequently caused the American Civil War. After years of fighting, the South lost the Civil War and fell into the Reconstruction era lasting from the mid to late 1800s, stripping the South of everything but their proud Southern heritage. In William Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” he uses his text as a metaphor for the South’s struggle to abandon their traditions for modernity during the Reconstruction era through the life of Miss Emily Grierson. Using themes of control, isolation, and attachment, Faulkner draws from his old Southern roots to illuminate the turmoil the South faced as they tried to prolong their way of life when everything else was out of their control. In the clash between modernity and traditions, Emily’s traditional neighbors control her attempts to evolve into a modern woman turning her private life into the public. The outside forces controlling Emily’s life ultimately push her to insanity and death as she also tries to preserve her way of life through one of the only things she can control: isolation.

Similar to the South during the Reconstruction era, Emily’s way of life is continually stripped away by outside forces until she decides to resist and control her own life. After the horrors of the Civil War, the federal government imposes reconstruction to rebuild the South and modernize its regressive traditions. At the beginning of reconstruction, the old generation of Southerners resisted modernization and clung to their traditions. However, as the era progressed, a new generation of Southerners took control of the modernization and adapted the region to create a New South and expand on their traditions. Being the last of a long line of Southern aristocrats, Miss Emily represents the end of the old generation and is a relic of her time. Similar to Miss Emily, the author descended from a long line of southern aristocrats and used his upbringing in Reconstruction-era Mississippi for the story. Faulkner’s background helps him draw parallels to the townspeople stopping Emily from modernizing to the South, stopping reconstruction from completely modernizing their home.

Due to her family’s high status, Emily is born into the life of a southern belle, which is a well-off woman who is confined to oppressive gender roles, and her value is based on her beauty and femininity. Under gender roles, southern belle’s are controlled by the men in their life and the critical eye of other high society women whose judgments of each other work to control their reputation and how the rest sees them of society. After the death of EMily’s father, the belle abandons gentry for a reconstructionist life like the new generation of Southerners. With her newfound freedom, Emily begins to evolve into a modern woman, and starts with finding a suitor that she approves of. Although her father was gone there were still people who wanted to keep Emily from evolving. Without knowing anything about her life, Emily’s generation or the old generation of Southerners continually works to control Emily’s personal life. Employing the help of the local priest and Emily’s distinct cousins in Alabama, the ladies of the town work hard to keep Emily in line and maintain the image of an idyllic Southern town.

When the ladies of the town notice how out of character Emily is, they work to stop her from ruining her status of being a “disgrace to the town” (Faulkner 1072) by modernizing and marrying a Yankee. These women want to stop Emily from being “a bad example to the young people” (Faulkner 1072) by giving them the idea to modernize instead of conforming to Jefferson’s traditional agenda. After the Civil War, this old generation of Southern ladies never returned to their way of life before reconstruction. However, groups such as the Daughters of the Confederacy (Hunter 1) used the next generation of Southerners to keep the fantasy of Antebellum South alive. These groups funded Confederate memorial statues, created museums, and educated their children with their skewed views. By controlling modern figures such as Emily, the old generation was able to shield the new generation of Southerners from reconstructionist ideas and created policies that fought modernization. Even though Emily resisted being controlled by her generation and married the Northerner, it came at a price. Emily lives out the rest of her life in isolation, serving a symbolic life sentence for not conforming to Southern society’s norms. Ultimately, by extracting herself from society, Emily loses all control over how the townspeople of Jefferson, Mississippi, view her, leaving herself vulnerable to the harsh judgments chronicled throughout the story.

Spending her early years isolated away from everyone in the town of Jefferson, Mississippi but her father no one really knows anything about Emily or her life, resulting in the misjudgements of the local townspeople. As Emily got older, she began to emerge into society, but quickly went back to isolation when she was criticized for not conforming with others. When Emily felt that she had lost almost all control over her life to the outside world, she took charge over one of the last aspects of her life where no one would control her. Lacking the ability to evolve without the critical eye of her generation, Emily isolates herself inside her home, allowing herself to be the only one to control her life instead of the outside world. Now free from the outside world, Emily finally has control to make her own choices within isolation but now in control she chooses not to control her life. Instead allowing everything around her to die, including the modern woman inside her which marks the end of her life leaving her with nothing to do but grow old in solitude. Emily’s grand home which used to be the model of classic Southern architecture and a representation of the past that the old generation longs for, turned into “an eyesore among eyesores,” (Faulkner 1066) consumed with the smell of Emily’s rotting husband. In her isolation, Emily’s life and everything around her begins to rot as the past is revealed to be not as great as it seems.

Clinging to a life they barely know; the old generation is attached to the past throughout the story. Retelling their idea of the lost cause of the Confederacy as if it were good old days, across the South to fight modernization. The townspeople of Jefferson, Mississippi work within their best interests to bring back the past and raise the next generation to live in a time centuries before them. Interested in the life of a woman they do not know; the old generation involves themselves in the personal life of Miss Emily Grierson to stop her from modernizing. Both groups attached to their own ideas, causing conflict which ends with both sticking to their own ideas. Both tightly clinging to their ideals without any space for adaptation, leads to severe consequences such as insanity by having no allies or obsession of pushing one’s agenda and pushing others to the side. The attachment of traditions led to the South’s struggle with Reconstruction and ultimate destruction of other people through hurtful policies such as Jim Crow. Evolution is needed to loosen the grip of one idea for future advancement that can occur, but due to the importance of preservation the South was isolated from the rest of America’s advancements. Making their situation similar to Emily’s as those in the South try to modernize while the townspeople represent the rest of the South who work to prevent the success of Reconstruction. Ultimately choosing to kill the idea of ever advancing without possibility of changing and symbolically rotting into the ugliness of the Jim Crow era.

Narrated by those who knew Miss Emily the least, the townspeople of Jefferson, Mississippi, recall their life through their critical lenses and speculation. As a product of her generation, Emily tries to evolve and break the oppressed Southern Belles’ trend, defined by superficial qualities. Emily’s story is a metaphor for the South’s constant battle due to the Reconstruction-era as they protected their traditions and defeated modernizing forces. Faulkner places all the worst aspects of reconstructionist south in Emily’s character. Highlighting the individuals who controlled the South’s narrative to preserve their traditions alongside their agenda, those who shut themselves into isolation to avoid judgments for modernizing, and the region’s attachment to a distant memory of Antebellum South. Ultimately the Reconstruction era engaged the South in another Civil War, as the majority fought off modernization and the minority faced a silent battle to any hope of a reformed South. With a region fighting against itself, it is easy to understand why Faulkner wrote “A Rose for Emily,” as an “an irrevocable tragedy” (Jelliffe 1) with citizens fighting against the advancement of their home to preserve their comfortable life. There is nothing you can do to stop this tragedy but pity and offer a rose to the neglected South out of pity of what the region could be instead of how it grew to be. 

Works Cited

A Rose for Emily. Directed by Lyndon Cubbuck. Performances by Anjelica Husto, John Randolph and John Carradine. Chubbuck Production Company, 1983.

Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” McDougal Littell Literature: American Literature . Ed. Applebee et al. 6th ed. Evanston, IL: McDougal Littell, 2008. 1064-1077.

Gone with the Wind. Directed by Victor Fleming. Performances by Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable, Selznick International Pictures, 1939.

Google Images for free and fair use.

Hunter, Alex. “Why ‘A Rose for Emily’ is a representation of Reconstruction South.” Medium. 2018. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@alexhunter365/why-a-rose-for-emily-is-a-representation-of-reconstruction-south-46c4b31978c8

Jelliffe, Robert. “Faulkner at Nagano.” Tokyo: Kenkyusha Ltd., 1956. Retrived from http://admin.faulkner.edu/admin/websites/cwarmack/William%20Faulkner%20speaks%20on.pdf

Oneclick. “Blooming Rose Flower || Time-Lapse Movie.” Youtube. 2018. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0TcPkdVsK8

A Rose for Emily

33 pages • 1 hour read

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Discussion Questions

Explain the significance of isolation and loneliness in “A Rose for Emily.” How does the Grierson family’s isolation contribute to the decisions Emily makes throughout the story?

Discuss the theme of gender roles. How does the story challenge or reinforce traditional gender expectations? What does this suggest about the relationship between gender and power in the Reconstruction era or Faulkner’s own time?

The story takes place in the imaginary town of Jefferson, Mississippi, in the years following the Civil War. Explore the impact of this Southern Reconstruction setting on the story’s major themes. Why might Faulkner, writing in 1930, have chosen to write about this historical moment in time?

Related Titles

By William Faulkner

Absalom, Absalom

As I Lay Dying

Barn Burning

Dry September

Go Down, Moses

Intruder In The Dust

Light in August

Spotted Horses

That Evening Sun

The Reivers

The Sound and the Fury

The Unvanquished

Featured Collections

Nobel Laureates in Literature

View Collection

Southern Gothic

A Rose for Emily Research Paper

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

“A Rose for Emily” was first published in 1931 by an American writer; William Faulkner.it is a fictional work that is based on a city called Jefferson in Mississippi in Yoknapatawpha County. The story is about Emily, the daughter of Mr. Grierson, a once prosperous Jefferson businessman.

Due to his enormous wealth, Mr. Grierson was owed by the council responsible for tax collection a colossal amount of money, a fact that prompted Colonel Sartoris to exempt the bereaved Emily from her tax responsibility. The most interesting thing about the town and Emily in particular is the fact that her house, which once stood in an elegant upscale neighborhood, is the last sign showcasing one’s splendor.

The story takes a twist when a new town leader succeeds Colonel Sartoris as the leader and sends board members of the Aldermen to request her to resume her obligation of tax remittance. However, Emily refutes this request and asserts that she is not obliged to pay taxes in Jefferson. She tells off the official, and requests them to consult colonel Sartoris about the matter (Robinette and Faulkner 1-17).

A rose for Emily is one of the books that is rich in styles that are employed to bring a clear picture of the theme story. One of the styles employed by the writer is flashback. The writer takes us back through a flashback to better our understanding on the foundation of the paper.

This method as a style allows the writer to give information, details or explanations in regard to the present situation or scene. For instance, the writer introduces us to Emily as a young girl and how his father had rejected various suitors terming them as not being suitable for his daughter.

After this, a battle ensues between Emily and the town citizens when a foul smell is detected from her father’s house and it culminates with the judge ordering that the residence be sprinkled with lime at night to kill the awful smell. After a week, the smell dies of and the town people get wind that Emily’s father had died. The women of the town decided to console Emily having in mind that her aunt had gone mad.

However, Emily meets them at the door and denies that her father had died. She puts up this shirred for three days, but eventually decides to hand over the body for burial. As a character in the book, Emily seems to take dramatic twists. After her father’s death that summer, she becomes very sick which coincides with the town awarding a contract to a company under the stewardess of Homer to construct sidewalks. This gets complicated when Emily and Hormer start an affair and are sported doing buggy rides together.

The story culminates in a gruesome and horrific manner. Emily goes to a drug store to purchase arsenic, but under the town’s regulations, she is supposed to disclose what she intended to do with the poison. She claims that it is for a rat infestation, but the town people don’t believe her and think that she intended to commit suicide or better still, kill Homer.

One night, Homer goes to Emily’s place and is never heard of again. Emily cuts off herself from the town and lives a life of seclusion. She closes the top floor of her house and grows grey. Eventually Emily dies at the age of seventy-four and her body is laid on the parlor as the men, women and the elders of the town pay her their last respect.

After a lapse of time, the door that sealed the upstairs is broken to the shock of the town. The room is frozen to show how time had lapsed; items showcasing an upcoming wedding are on display. To the shock of most of those present, there was a body that was at an advanced stage of decomposition. It later turned out that the body belonged to Homer Barron. To the people’s amusement there was an indentation of a head next to Homer’s body and a long grey strand of Emily hair lying lifeless.

Although “A Rose for Emily” is termed as William Faulkner’s best book, there are major criticisms for the book. For instance, the structure of the story begins on a dramatic precept where first, we have the announcement of Emily’s death. The writer then gives as the story of Emily through the third omniscient where we have “we” to represent the town people and we are taken back through a flashback.

Interestingly in the story, Emily falls in love with Homer who is a southerner just like the writer and Emily herself being a Northerner, was a ready recipe for chaos. This brings as critics to look into the aspect of perception in terms of how people view each other in relation to where they come from and their birth place.

In addition to this, the writer introduces us to another conflicting aspect. This is the issue of status quo, where according to Emily’s father; her daughter was to be married to a certain class of people. This was the reason he turned away the various suitors who sought Emily’s hand in marriage.

According to some critics, this was the resultant cause of Emily’s poisoning Homer and slipping with his dead body. This is precipitated by the fact that before Homer’s disappearance, Emily’s cousins had paid her a visit and most likely, he was against the planed wedding (Getty, 230)

Lastly, the writer introduces us to insecurity as a theme. This aspect also adds to the debate as being the cause for Emily killing Homer. From the story, we know that Emily’s previous fiancée had run away and abandoned her. This act caused her to be insecure, which made her to think that Homer would do the same and also leave her.

She results to killing him as being the surest means of holding on to him (Petry 52-53). The most striking aspect of the story is that although it is a work of fiction and having in mind the concept of suspending disbelief, it is rather absurd that nobody finds Emily’s behavior quire in that Homer disappears without anyone noticing right after Emily had bought poison from a drug store.

It is also incredible that the people of the town, especially the women, who had never glanced the inside of Emily’s house did not have the slightest curiosity to check the house right after Emily’s death, but the town took a long spell of time after her death to break down the door to the upper stairs. According to some critics, this is a method of “filling in the gaps” on the part of the writer to come up with a logical storyline.

Works Cited

Getty, Laura. Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. Explicator 63(4).Pp. 230-234. 2005. Print.

Petry, Alice. Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. Explicator . 44(3). Pp. 52-53. 1986. Print.

Robinette, Joseph and William Faulkner. A Rose for Emily. New York: Dramatic Publishing, 1983. Print.

• Sara Smolinsky’s Struggles with Competing Values in “Bread Givers” by Anzia Yezierska
• Edwin Arlington Robinson: Money and Happiness in "Richard Cory"
• "A Rose for Emily" by W. Faulkner: Symbolism and Themes
• Plot Means in "A Rose for Emily" by William Faulkner
• William Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily” Reaction Paper
• “The Nine-mile Wolves” by Rick Bass
• The Old Man and the Sea
• Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner
• I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
• Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2018, October 17). A Rose for Emily. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-rose-for-emily-3/

"A Rose for Emily." IvyPanda , 17 Oct. 2018, ivypanda.com/essays/a-rose-for-emily-3/.

IvyPanda . (2018) 'A Rose for Emily'. 17 October.

IvyPanda . 2018. "A Rose for Emily." October 17, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-rose-for-emily-3/.

1. IvyPanda . "A Rose for Emily." October 17, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-rose-for-emily-3/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "A Rose for Emily." October 17, 2018. https://ivypanda.com/essays/a-rose-for-emily-3/.

A Summary and Analysis of William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘A Rose for Emily’ is a short story by William Faulkner, originally published in Forum in 1930 before being collected in Faulkner’s collection, These Thirteen , the following year. The story concerns an unmarried woman living in the American South who attracts the concern and suspicion of the townspeople after her father dies and she becomes romantically involved with a Yankee man from the North.

‘A Rose for Emily’ is a story that invites a number of different critical interpretations and has attracted a great deal of commentary and analysis. Before we analyse the meaning of Faulkner’s classic story, it might be worth recapping the plot.

‘A Rose for Emily’: plot summary

The story begins with the news that Miss Emily Grierson, a recluse living alone with a black servant in a large house in town, has died. The narrator, a kind of collective voice of the townspeople, tells us that everyone in the town attended the funeral, with many of the women being curious to see inside the woman’s house that nobody had been allowed inside for years.

We are told that ten years earlier, the aldermen of the town had gained access to her house in order to question her about failure to pay her taxes. She simply tells them that she does not owe any taxes to the town, and calls for her servant to show the men out. Thirty years before that, another group of men from the town had visited Emily Grierson’s home to sprinkle lime in the cellar and the outbuildings, in order to get rid of the smell coming from the house.

That was two years after the death of her father, a crayon portrait of whom stands on an easel in front of the fireplace. After her father’s death, Emily’s sweetheart had deserted her and Emily left the house only on very rare occasions. When the house had begun to smell a short while after, neighbours had complained to the mayor, but the mayor had been reluctant to confront Emily about such a delicate matter, hence the party of men sprinkling lime under and around the house.

The narrator tells us that the townspeople had always thought the Griersons held themselves in high regard, as if none of the men would be good enough for Emily. When her father died, the women turned up at her house to pay their condolences, but she denied that he had died. The doctors had to persuade Emily to bury the body.

Despite this odd behaviour, the townspeople didn’t consider Emily to be mad. They attributed her actions to her father’s controlling presence, and the way he had sent away all her potential suitors, forcing her to rely on him, even after his death.

After her father’s death, Emily was sick for a long while, and when she was seen again, she had cut her hair short to make her look like a girl. The following summer, a construction company arrived to pave the paths of the town, and the foreman, a Yankee from New York named Homer Barron, is seen out riding on Sundays with Emily. The townsfolk start to say, ‘Poor Emily’, believing that she cannot be seriously interested in a Northerner like Barron.

Emily purchases some arsenic from the local druggist, who assumes she will use it to kill rats. However, the rumour in the town is that Emily is planning to take her own life. People start to grow suspicious of the length of Emily’s courtship with Barron, with the minister intervening and the minister’s wife writing a concerned letter to Emily’s relatives in Alabama, and her cousins come to stay with her. Soon after this, the townsfolk became certain that Emily and Barron had married.

But then Homer Barron vanished, and nobody saw him again. Emily is barely seen either, and when she does reappear from the house, her hair has turned grey and she has put on weight. For a short while, Emily would give lessons in china-painting from her doorstep, but even this she eventually gave up. The townspeople grow up and move on and she becomes even more of a recluse. Her African-American servant loyally remains in her service, but nobody else goes into the house.

When Emily dies and her body is buried, the townsfolk finally venture into the upstairs bedroom in the house, where they discover the dead body of a man lying on the bed, surrounded by dust – presumably, the man is Homer Barron (though this is not stated). Next to the dead body is the indentation of a head and a long strand of Emily’s hair, suggesting that she was in the habit of lying next to the man’s body in the bed.

‘A Rose for Emily’: analysis

‘A Rose for Emily’ is a subtle story which blends first- and third-person narration, Gothic literature and realism, past memories and present events, to unsettle us as readers. The whole town appears to be the story’s narrator, a kind of collective ‘we’ which speaks together about – and against – Emily’s strange behaviour until we reach the chilling finale and Homer Barron’s body is discovered.

This means that Emily remains distant from us as readers, and we never learn about her inner life: we only ever see her from the outside, through the eyes of the townspeople. This is obviously fitting because Emily is an outsider in the town, but it also lends an air of mystery to the events recounted, because so little is understood of Emily’s motivations and emotions.

Because of this unnerving denouement, ‘A Rose for Emily’ is often regarded as an example of Southern Gothic : a literary mode, practised by writers of the American South (like Faulkner) whose stories and novels are characterised by macabre, horrific, or grotesque elements. Such fiction often also contains an accumulation of realist detail, and Faulkner allows the mood of uncanniness which pervades Emily’s house and her life to emerge gradually.

Her reluctance to give up her father’s body for burial, for example, foreshadows her (presumed) murder of her lover and concealment of his body in the upper bedroom, whom she killed when she realised that was the only way of holding onto him and ensuring he remained hers for good. The crumbling Gothic castle has become a house in the Southern United States, in which everything is ‘tarnished’ (note how often that word recurs), spoiled, fading (like Emily’s iron-grey hair), and falling to ruin.

This offers a new, more domestic take on a traditional trope in Gothic fiction: the dark secret threatening to destroy a ‘house’ or family (see Poe’s ‘ The Fall of the House of Usher ’ for one notable example from the nineteenth century), and (in many Gothic stories) the dead body that is only discovered at the end of the narrative.

But at least Poe’s protagonists managed to bury their bodies (although sometimes, as in the story just mentioned, before they were actually dead), or concealed them beneath the floorboards . Faulkner’s story instead hints at an altogether more morbid and unwholesome notion: that Emily has continued to ‘sleep’ with Homer even after he was dead (indeed, perhaps that was the only way she could sleep with him at all).

Another reason that the Southern Gothic tag is important for ‘A Rose for Emily’ is that Emily, a Southern lady, falls for a ‘Yankee’: a man from the North of the United States. Although the American Civil War ended in 1865, decades before Faulkner was writing, the sense of North-South divide, in terms of culture, class, and identity, proved long-lasting (and arguably persists to this day).

The townsfolk are appalled by the idea that Miss Emily, an aristocratic Southern lady, might seriously be considering marriage to a Northerner, whom they consider to be beneath her on the social scale (hence the reference to noblesse oblige : Emily should entertain Homer and be courteous to him, but the idea that she could marry such a man horrifies the Southern townspeople’s sensibilities).

Faulkner leaves many specific details of Emily’s relationship with Homer as mere hints and speculations, in keeping with the narrative mode of the story: the townspeople, shut out from her house and, in many ways, from her life, can only conjecture as to what happened. We are in a similar position, though it seems sensible enough to surmise that Emily fell in love with Homer – who, it is strongly suggested, had no intention of settling down with her.

Like Emily, he is a perpetual singleton, but whereas Emily is single because of the controlling influence of her father (an influence which persists, in its psychological hold on her, even after her father’s death), Homer is single by choice: a stark reminder of the gender differences between men and women in Southern society at this time.

Women like Emily attract concern and rumour if they remain unmarried, while the bachelor Homer Barron – whose name summons Greek heroism and nobility, while also hinting at the ‘barren’ nature of Emily’s would-be relationship with him – charms the townsfolk and becomes popular, despite being, like Emily, an outsider set apart from them.

Why does Faulkner title his story ‘A Rose for Emily’? In an interview he gave at the University of Virginia, he suggested that Emily deserved to be given a rose because of all of the torment she had endured: at the hands of her father, perhaps at the hands of Homer as well, and as a result of the townsfolk treating her like an outsider.

Discover more from Interesting Literature

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Type your email…

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading

"A Rose for Emily" By William Faulkner

Editorial statements.

Research informing these annotations draws on publicly-accessible resources, with links provided where possible. Annotations have also included common knowledge, defined as information that can be found in multiple reliable sources. If you notice an error in these annotations, please contact [email protected].

Original spelling and capitalization is retained, though the long s has been silently modernized and ligatured forms are not encoded.

Hyphenation has not been retained, except where necessary for the sense of the word.

Page breaks have been retained. Catchwords, signatures, and running headers have not.

Materials have been transcribed from and checked against first editions, where possible. See the Sources section for more information.

Linked Data: Places related to this work.

W hen Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old Negro manservant -- a combined gardener and cook -- had seen in at least ten years.

It was a big, squarish, frame house that had once been white, decorated with cupolas cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the seventies, set on what had once been our most select street. But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august august names of that neighborhood; only Miss Emily's house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps -- an eyesore among eyesores. And now Miss Emily had gone to join the representatives of those august names where they lay in the cedar-bemused cemetry among the ranked and anonymous graves of Union and Confederate soldiers who fell at the battle of Jefferson.

Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care; a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town, dating from that day in 1894 when Colonel Sartoris, the mayor -- he who fathered the edict edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron -- remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity. Not that Miss Emily would have accepted charity. 234 Colonel Sartoris invented an involved tale to the effect that Miss Emily's father had loaned money to the town, which the town, as a matter of business, preferred this way of repaying. Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it.

When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction. On the first of the year they mailed her a tax notice. February came, and there was no reply. They wrote her a formal letter, asking her to call at the sheriff's office at her convenience. A week later the mayor wrote her himself, offering to call or to send his car for her, and received in reply a note on paper of an archaic shape, in a thin, flowing calligraphy in faded ink, to the effect that she no longer went out at all. The tax notice was also enclosed, without comment.

They called a special meeting of the Board of Aldermen. A deputation waited upon her, knocked at the door through which no visitor had passed since she ceased giving china-painting lessons eight or ten years earlier. They were admitted by the old Negro into a dim hall from which a stairway mounted into still more shadow. It smelled of dust and disuse -- a close, dank smell. The Negro led them into the parlor. It was furnished in heavy, leather-covered furniture. When the Negro opened the blinds of one window, they could see that the leather was cracked; and when they sat down, a faint dust rose sluggishly around their thighs, spinning with slow motes motes in the single sun-ray. On a tarnished gilt easel before the fireplace stood a crayon portrait of Miss Emily's father.

They rose when she entered -- 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 sparse; perhaps that was why what would have been merely plumpness in another was obesity in her. She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue. Her eyes lost in the fatty ridges of her face, looked like two small pieces of coal pressed into a lump of dough as they moved from one face to another while the visitors started their errand.

She did not ask them to sit. She just stood in the door and listened quietly until the spokesman came to a stumbling halt. Then they could hear the invisible watch ticking at the end of the gold chain.

Her voice was dry and cold. "I have no taxes in Jefferson. Colonel Sartoris explained it to me. Perhaps one of you can gain access to the city records and satisfy yourselves."

"But we have. We are the city authorities, Miss Emily. Didn't you get a notice from the sheriff, signed by him?"

"I received a paper, yes,"Miss Emily said. "Perhaps he considers himself the sheriff. ... I have no taxes in Jefferson."

"But there is nothing on the books to show that, you see. We must go by the --"

"See Colonel Sartoris. I have no taxes in Jefferson."

"But, Miss Emily --"

"See Colonel Sartoris." (Colonel Sartoris had been dead almost ten years.) "I have no taxes in Jefferson. Tobe!" The Negro appeared. "Show these gentlemen out."

S O SHE vanquished them, horse and foot, just as she had vanquished their fathers thirty years before about the smell. That was two years after her father's death and a short time after her sweetheart -- the one we believed would marry her -- had deserted her. After her father's death she went out very little; after her sweetheart went away, people hardly saw her at all. A few of the ladies had the temerity temerity to call, but were not received, and the only sign of life about the place was the Negro man -- a young man then -- going in and out with a market basket.

"Just as if a man -- any man -- could keep a kitchen properly," the ladies said; so they were not surprised when the smell developed. It was another link between the gross, teeming world and the high and mighty Griersons.

A neighbor, a woman, complained to the mayor, Judge Stevens, eighty years old.

"But what will you have me do about it, madam?" he said.

"Why, send her word to stop it," the woman said. "Isn't there a law?"

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," Judge Stevens said. "It's probably just a snake or a rat that nigger of hers killed in the yard. I'll speak to him about it."

The next day he received two more complaints, one from a man who came in diffident deprecation. "We really must do something about it, Judge. I'd be the last one in the world to bother Miss Emily, but we've got to do something." That night the Board of Aldermen met -- three graybeards and one younger man, a member of the rising generation.

"It's simple enough," he said. "Send her word to have her place cleaned up. Give her a certain time to do it in, and if she don't ..."

"Dammit, sir," Judge Stevens said, "will you accuse a lady to her face of smelling bad?"

So the next night, after midnight, four men crossed Miss Emily's lawn and slunk about the house like burglars, sniffing along the base of the brickwork and at the cellar openings while one of them performed a regular sowing motion with his hand out of a sack slung from his shoulder. They broke open the cellar door and sprinkled lime there, and in all the outbuildings. As they recrossed the lawn, a window that had been dark was lighted and Miss Emily sat in it, the light behind her, and her upright torso motionless as that of an idol. They crept quietly across the lawn and into the shadow of the locusts that lined the street. After a week or two the smell went away.

That was when people had begun to feel really sorry for her. People in our town, remembering how old lady Wyatt, her great-aunt, had gone completely crazy at last, believed that the Griersons held themselves a little too high for what they really were. None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a tableau: Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we 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.

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. Now she too would know the old thrill and the old despair of a penny more or less.

The day after his death all the ladies prepared to call at the house and offer condolence and aid, as is our custom. Miss Emily met them at the door, dressed as usual and with no trace of grief on her face. She told them that her father was not dead. She did that for three days, with the ministers calling on her, and the doctors, trying to persuade her to let them dispose of the body. Just as they were about to resort to law and force, she broke down, and they buried her father quickly.

We did not say she was crazy then. We believed she had to do that. We remembered all the young men her father had driven away, and we knew that with nothing left, she would have to cling to that which had robbed her, as people will.

S HE WAS sick for a long time. When we saw her again, her hair was cut short, making her look like a girl, with a vague resemblance to those angles in colored church windows -- sort of tragic and serene.

The town had just let the contracts for paving the sidewalks, and in the summer after 236 her father's death they began the work. The construction company came with niggers and mules and machinery, and a foreman named Homer Barron, a Yankee -- a big, dark, ready man with a big voice and eyes lighter than his face. The little boys would follow in groups to hear him cuss the niggers, and the niggers singing in time to the rise and fall of picks. Pretty soon he knew everybody in town. Whenever you heard a lot of laughing anywhere about the square, Homer Barron would be in the center of the group. Presently we began to see him and Miss Emily on Sunday afternoons driving in the yellow-wheeled buggy and the matched team of bays from the livery stable.

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." But there were still others, older people, who said that even grief could not cause a real lady to forget noblesse oblige -- without calling it noblesse oblige . They just said, "Poor Emily. Her kinfolks should come to her." She had some kin in Alabama; but years ago her father had fallen out with them over the estate of old lady Wyatt, the crazy woman, and there was no communication between the two families. They had not even been represented at the funeral.

And as soon as the old people said, "Poor Emily," the whispering began. "Do you suppose it's really so?" they said to one another. "Of course it is. What else could ..." This behind their hands; rustling of craned silk and stain behind jalousies jalousies closed upon the sun of Sunday afternoon as the thin, swift clop-clop-clop of the matched team passed: "Poor Emily."

She carried her head high enough -- even when we believed that she was fallen. It was as if she demanded more than ever the recognition of her dignity as the last Grierson; as if it had wanted that touch of earthiness to reaffirm her imperviousness. Like when she bought the rat poison, the arsenic. That was over a year after they had begun to say "Poor Emily," and while the two female cousins were visiting her.

"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 eye-sockets as you imagine a lighthouse-keeper's face ought to look. "I want some poison," she said.

"Yes, Miss Emily. What kind? For rats and such? I'd recom --"

"I want the best you have. I don't care what kind."

The druggist named several. "They'll kill anything up to an elephant. But what you want is --"

"Arsenic," Miss Emily said. "Is that a good one?"

"Is ... arsenic? Yes, ma'am. But what you want--"

"I want arsenic."

The druggist looked down at her. She looked back at him, erect, her face like a strained flag. "Why, of course," the druggist said. "If that's what you want. But the law requires you to tell what you are going to use it for."

Miss Emily just stared at him, her head tilted back in order to look him eye to eye, until he looked away and went and got the arsenic and wrapped it up. The Negro delivery boy brought her the package; the druggist didn't come back. When she opened the package at home there was written on the box, under the skull and bones: "for rats."

S O The next day we all said, "She will kill herself;" and we said it would be the best thing. When she had first begun to be seen with Homer Barron, we had said, "She will marry him." Then we said, "She will persuade him yet," because Homer himself had remarked -- he liked men, and it was known that he drank with the younger men in the Elks' Club -- that he was not a marrying man. Later we said, "Poor Emily" behind the jalousies as they passed on Sunday afternoon in the glittering buggy, Miss Emily with her head high and Homer Barron with his hat cocked and a cigar in his teeth, reins and whip in a yellow glove.

Then some of the ladies began to say that it was a disgrace to the town and a bad example to the young people. The men did not want to interfere, but at last the ladies forced the Baptist minister -- Miss Emily's people were Episcopal -- to call upon her. He would never divulge what happened during that interview, but he refused to go back again. The next Sunday they again drove about the streets, and the 237 following day the minister's wife wrote to Miss Emily's relations in Alabama.

So she had blood-kin under her roof again and we sat back to watch developments. At first nothing happened. Then we were sure that they were to be married. We learned that Miss Emily had been to the jeweler's and ordered a man's toilet set in silver, with the letters H. B. on each piece. Two days later we learned that she had bought a complete outfit of men's clothing, including a nightshirt, and we said, "They are married." We were really glad. We were glad because the two female cousins even more Grierson than Miss Emily had ever been.

So we were not surprised when Homer Barron -- the streets had been finished some time since -- was gone. We were a little disappointed that there was not a public blowing-off, but we believed that he had gone on to prepare for Miss Emily's coming, or to give her a chance to get rid of the cousins. (By that time it was a cabal cabal , and we were all Miss Emily's allies to help circumvent the cousins.) Sure enough, after another week they departed. And, as we had expected all along, within three days Homer Barron was back in town. A neighbor saw the Negro man admit him at the kitchen door at dusk one evening.

And that was the last we saw of Homer Barron. And of Miss Emily for some time. The Negro man went in and out with the market basket, but the front door remained closed. Now and then we would see her at the window for a moment, as the men did that night when they sprinkled the lime, but for almost six months she did not appear on the streets. Then we knew that this was to be expected too; as if that quality of her father which had thwarted her woman's life so many times had been too virulent virulent and too furious to die.

When we next saw Miss Emily, she had grown fat and her hair was turning gray. During the next few years it few grayer and grayer until it attained an even pepper-and-salt iron-gray, when it ceased turning. Up to the day of her death at seventy-four it was still that vigorous iron-gray, like the hair of an active man.

From that time on her front door remained closed, save for a period of six or seven years, when she was about forty, during which she gave lessons in china-painting. She fitted up a studio in one of the downstairs rooms, where the daughters and grand-daughters of Colonel Sartoris' contemporaries were sent to her with the same regularity and in the same spirit that they were sent to church on Sundays with a twenty-five cent piece for the collection plate. Meanwhile her taxes had been remitted.

Then the newer generation became the backbone and the spirit of the town, and the painting pupils grew up and fell away and did not send their children to her with boxes of color and tedious brushes and pictures cut from the ladies' magazines. The front door closed upon the last one and remained closed for good. When the town got free postal delivery, Miss Emily alone refused to let them fasten the metal numbers above her door and attach a mailbox to it. She would not listen to them.

Daily, monthly, yearly we watched the Negro grow grayer and more stooped, going in and out with the market basket. 238 Each December we sent her a tax notice, which would be returned by the post office a week later, unclaimed. Now and then we would see her in one of the downstairs windows -- she had evidently shut up the top floor of the house -- like the cavern torso of an idol in a niche, looking or not looking at us, we could never tell which. Thus she passed from generation to generation -- dear, inescapable, impervious, tranquil, and perverse.

And so she died. Fell ill in the house filled with dust and shadows, with only a doddering Negro man to wait on her. We did not even know she was sick; we had long since given up trying to get any information from the Negro. He talked to no one, probably not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse.

She died in one of the downstairs rooms, in a heavy walnut bed with a curtain, her gray head propped on a pillow yellow and moldy with age and lack of sunlight.

T HE NEGRO met the first of the ladies at the front door and let them in, with their hushed, sibilant sibilant voices and their quick, curious glances, and then he disappeared. He walked right through the house and out the back and was never seen again.

The two female cousins came at once. They held the funeral on the second day, with the town coming to look at Miss Emily beneath a mass of bought flowers, with the crayon face of her father musing profoundly above the bier bier and the ladies sibilant and macabre; and the very old men -- some in their brushed Confederate uniforms -- on the porch and the lawn, talking of Miss Emily as if she had been a contemporary of theirs, believing that they had danced with her and courted her perhaps, confusing time with its mathematical progression, as the old do, to whom all the past is not a diminishing road but, instead, a huge meadow which no winter ever quite touches, divided from the now by the narrow bottle-neck of the most recent decade of years.

Already we knew that there was one room in that region abovestairs which no one had seen in forty years, and which would have been to be forced. They waited until Miss Emily was decently in the ground before they opened it.

The violence of breaking down the door seemed to fill this room with pervading dust. A thin, acrid acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured. Among them lay a collar and tie, as if they had just been removed, which, lifted, left upon the surface a pale crescent in the dust. Upon a chair hung the suit, carefully folded; beneath it the two mute shoes and the discarded socks.

The man himself lay in the bed.

For a long while we just stood there, looking down at the 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. What was left of him rotted beneath what was left of the nightshirt, had become inextricable from the bed in which he lay; and upon him and upon the pillow beside him lay that even coating of the patient and biding dust.

Then we noticed that in the second pillow was the indentation of a head. One of us lifted something from it, and leaning forward, that faint and invisible dust dry and acrid in the nostrils, we saw a long strand of iron-gray hair.

Add to Coursepack

Create a new coursepack, reset password, create an account.

Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Society — A Rose For Emily Theme Analysis

A Rose for Emily Theme Analysis

• Categories: Mental Health Society

About this sample

Words: 607 |

Published: Mar 19, 2024

Words: 607 | Page: 1 | 4 min read

Table of contents

I. introduction, a. "a rose for emily" by william faulkner is a timeless classic that delves into the complexities of human nature and societal norms. set in the fictional town of jefferson, the story follows the life of emily grierson, a reclusive woman whose mysterious actions captivate the townspeople., b. thesis statement: the theme of isolation in "a rose for emily" highlights the impact of societal expectations on an individual's mental health. throughout the narrative, faulkner skillfully portrays the consequences of isolation and the detrimental effects of conforming to societal standards., ii. emily's isolation from society, a. from the outset, signs of emily's isolation are evident. she is portrayed as a recluse, rarely seen in public and shrouded in mystery. her secluded lifestyle raises questions among the townspeople, leading to speculation and gossip., b. various factors contribute to emily's isolation, including her domineering father's influence and the town's rigid expectations of her. the pressure to adhere to societal norms and maintain her family's reputation weighs heavily on emily, pushing her further into seclusion., c. the effects of emily's isolation on her mental state are profound. as the story unfolds, it becomes apparent that her solitude has taken a toll on her psyche. her erratic behavior and detachment from reality point to the damaging consequences of prolonged isolation., iii. society's role in emily's isolation, a. society's expectations play a significant role in emily's isolation. the townspeople hold her to a high standard, expecting her to uphold the traditions of the past and conform to their ideals of propriety. this pressure only serves to exacerbate emily's feelings of isolation and alienation., b. the consequences of society's treatment of emily are far-reaching. she is judged and ostracized by the community, forced to live up to their unrealistic expectations while grappling with her own inner turmoil. the town's collective judgment further isolates emily, driving her deeper into seclusion., c. in comparison to other characters in the story, emily's isolation stands out as particularly tragic. while others may experience moments of loneliness or alienation, emily's isolation is all-encompassing, shaping her entire existence. faulkner uses emily's character to explore the devastating impact of societal pressure and the toll it can take on an individual's mental health., d. emily's struggle with tradition and change is a central theme in "a rose for emily." throughout the story, emily resists the changing world around her, clinging to the traditions of the past. her refusal to adapt to societal norms and embrace progress ultimately leads to her isolation and downfall., e. the tension between tradition and progress is palpable in the story, highlighting the clash between old ways and new ideas. emily's inability to reconcile these conflicting forces results in her alienation from society and ultimately her tragic demise., f. emily's struggle with tradition and change also impacts her relationships with others. her refusal to conform to societal expectations creates a barrier between herself and the townspeople, making it difficult for her to form meaningful connections. this isolation further deepens her sense of loneliness and detachment from the world around her..

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Karlyna PhD

Verified writer

• Expert in: Nursing & Health Sociology

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

1 pages / 624 words

2 pages / 1007 words

3 pages / 1413 words

2 pages / 1069 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Society

In her thought-provoking and poignant essay, "On Compassion," Barbara Lazear Ascher explores the concept of compassion and its implications for society. Through vivid storytelling and compelling examples, Ascher challenges [...]

The significance of history is a topic that has been debated by various individuals, including actors, musicians, politicians, writers, and other public figures. While some may deny its importance, others argue that history is [...]

As a prospective student, I am excited to express my interest in pursuing my academic goals at Liberty University. I am confident that the rigorous academic programs and supportive community at Liberty will provide me with the [...]

Informal deviance refers to behaviors that violate social norms but are not necessarily illegal. These behaviors may include things like talking loudly in a movie theater, cutting in line, or wearing inappropriate attire to a [...]

Nowadays, current society is familiar with music more than in any other time in history because of the youth. A big percentage of the young listen to music everyday while performing their daily activities for many of the [...]

Schemas are theory-driven: Because schemas are based on our prior expectations and social knowledge, they have been described as ‘theory-driven’ structures that provide organization to social experience. We use these background [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

A Rose For Emily Essay Topics & Ideas

Use our topics suggestions to impress your reader.

• Argumentative A Rose for Emily Essay Topics
• A Rose for Emily Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

Rose for Emily Literary Analysis Essay Topics

More essay examples on this topic.

William Faulkner’s novel A Rose for Emily was published in Forum Magazine on April 30, 1930. It was Faulkner’s first novel to be published in a prominent magazine. Although it received minimal attention after its first publication, A Rose for Emily has become one of Faulkner’s most popular works. Faulkner received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949 and is now considered one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. His works are mainly concerned with the cultural changes that took place in the south after the civil war.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a short story from the point of view of one of the townspeople. When Miss Emily dies, he tells his readers about several major incidents in the life of the old woman that has some significant meaning for the people of the village. She rarely spoke to anyone, and after the mayor exempted her from paying taxes, she refused to pay those taxes throughout her life, despite the persistent pushing of elders in the city (“A Rose for Emily”, 1930).

How to Choose Essay Topic on A Rose For Emily?

Here are some tips on how to choose an essay topic for A Rose For Emily by William Faulkner.

• Pick something that interests you. If you don’t care about the topic, it will be hard to write a good essay.
• Choose a topic that has a lot of research that’s been done on it already so that you can focus on your writing and not have to do too much work yourself.
• Make sure that whatever topic you choose is within the scope of what the assignment asks for (for example, if they ask for an analysis of Emily’s character, don’t pick a subject like “Emily as a symbol”, because this isn’t about analyzing her character).

Tips on How to Write A Rose For Emily Essay

When you’re ready to start writing, there’s no need to worry about the length of your essay. Of course, you’ll want to keep it as short as possible, but if you feel like there are still things you want to say, then go ahead and write them down! Just make sure that your writing is clear and easy-to-understand.

• Start off with a hook: You should start by giving the reader an idea of what they can expect from the rest of your essay. This can be done in one sentence or two, but make sure that it’s interesting enough so that they’ll want to read more!
• Introduce your thesis statement: Next up is introducing your thesis statement, which should be one sentence that summarizes what you’re going to talk about throughout the rest of the essay. For example: “In William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, Emily Grierson uses her wealth and position in society as a means for controlling others through fear.”
• Develop this idea throughout your essay: Now that you’ve introduced your thesis statement, you’re ready to start developing it further through examples from the text itself! Make sure that every point follows logically from previous ones;
• Describe the main character and their relationships with other characters.
• Explain how the main character changes over the course of the story, and what that means for them and for the people around them.
• Choose one or two events from the story that illustrate your point about the character’s transformation, and describe them in detail to show how they affect him/her both physically and emotionally.
• Conclude by explaining why this transformation is important to understanding Emily’s character (and therefore, her actions).

✒️ Argumentative A Rose for Emily Essay Topics

“A Rose for Emily” was Faulkner’s first story published in a national magazine.

• A Rose for Emily – In Memory Of Emily Grierson
• A Rose for Emily, Living In The Past
• A Rose for Emily A Closer Look
• A Rose For Emily: A Symbol of Neglect
• Tradition Versus Change In “ A Rose for Emily”
• William Faulkner: A Rose for Emily, The Symbol Of Emily’S House
• A Rose, the Universal Symbol of Love
• Reflection About The Story A Rose for Emily
• Regionalism: Faulkner ”A Rose for Emily”
• Rose for Emily and Odour Of Chrysanthemums
• Setting In A Rose for Emily
• How does Faulkner characterize Emily?
• A Rose for Emily , Livivng in the Past
• Mental Illness in a Rose for Emily
• Reasons why Emily is Insane in “A Rose for Emily”
• Imagery In A Rose for Emily
• Why “A Rose for Emily” is a representation of Reconstruction South
• A Frightening Love Story of a Woman
• About Life of Emily Grierson in a Rose for Emily
• Did the “Rose” Stand for Love or Affection?

Popular Questions

✍ A Rose for Emily Compare and Contrast Essay Topics

• A Comparison Of The Main Protagonists In William Faulkner’S “A Rose for Emily” and Katherine Anne Porter’S “The Jilting Of Granny Weatherall”
• A Rose for Emily: Story Vs. Film
• Comparative Analysis: A Rose for Emily and The Yellow Wallpaper
• Compare and Contrast “Rose for Emily” and “Story Of An Hour”
• Comparing and Contrasting “Barn Burning” and “A Rose for Emily”
• Comparing When Death Comes By Mary Oliver, to An Athlete Dying Young By A.E. Housman and A Rose for Emily By William Faulkner
• Comparison – Contrast: A Rose for Emily/ Everything That Rises Must Converge
• Comparison and Contrast Of The Yellow Wallpaper and The Rose for Emily
• Comparison and Contrast: A Rose for Emily By William Faulkner and The Story Of An Hour By Kate Chopin
• Comparison & Contrast: A Rose for Emily & The Yellow Wallpaper
• Comparing The Kite Runner and A Rose for Emily
• Solitude as a Theme in The Yellow Wallpaper & A Rose for Emily Compare and Contrast

Faulkner never graduated from high school.

• A Rose for Emily: A Themes Of Death and Change
• A Rose for Emily/ Soldier’S Home: Comparison/Contrast
• Archetypes In A Rose for Emily
• Because I Could Not Stop for Death, The Metamorphosis, and A Rose for Emily: The Connecting Theme Of Death
• Symbolism In “A Rose for Emily”
• Symbolism: Everyday Use Comparison W/ A Rose for Emily
• Thesis In “A Rose for Emily”
• Archetypes in A Rose for Emily
• The story behind A Rose for Emily
• Literary Analysis On “A Rose for Emily”
• Literary Review Of “A Rose for Emily”
• Profile Of Miss Emily Grierson In, “A Rose for Emily”
• Psychological Diagnosis Of Antisocial Personality Disorder In “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” and “A Rose for Emily”
• Grotesque Reality In William Faulkner’S “A Rose for Emily”
• What is the main message of A Rose for Emily?
• Figurative Language in a Rose for Emily

Ernest Hemingway criticized “A Rose for Emily.”

• A Rose For Emily A Closer Look
• A Rose For Emily Analysis
• A Rose For Emily By William Faulkner
• A Rose For Emily – In Memory Of Emily Grierson
• A Rose For Emily Or Something More
• on The Yellow Wallpaper, A Rose for Emily an
• A Rose for Emily
• Rose for Emily – Theme Analysis
• In the short story ” A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner, an old lady who
• The Story of a Heart Aching for Love – Emily’s Love for Homer
• Why Emily’s Need For Control Is An Issue
• For Emily, the dead roses were a means to preserve the past. The past was now frozen in
• To Kill A Mockingbird is a classic work of literature that has been studied by generations of students
• This literary classic about a rotting corpse in an attic has taught America many lessons about the qualities of decay
• 6 Secrets to Maintaining Your Youth
• Most people think Emily is insane and treat her as such. However, I disagree with this claim and
• Is the Narrator Insane?
• For most, felling in love is an adventure that many experience but aren’t capable of fully understanding
• Learn about the Definition of a Rose for Emily here
• Thesis: Emily is a Romantic.
• Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is one of the best stories I have ever
• 3 Reasons to Be Excited Thesis For Ethan Frome Essay Topic
• Wicked? This Author’s View Of Emily’s Pathology Doesn’t Match Ours
• Is Vanity Our Own Worst Enemy Thesis Statement
• Why Your Life Will Suck If You Don’t Learn How To Write
• Emily’s death was a tragedy. The public had not known her for many years and so were not
• What Does Not Killing The Mockingbird Mean?
• Why Rose for Emily Had to Die
• What Emily Dickinson Paced And Described In Her Poem
• Emily Dickinson’s Style Of Writing
• What the story “A Rose for Emily” tells us about class and gender norms in the south.
• 4 Possible Themes for Emily’s Story
• 5 Tricks To Remembering Any Essay
• Thesis: During the time of prominent social and economic change after the Civil War, Emily’s father
• Does a rose by any other name smell as sweet?
• Get rid of those unwanted hair by waxing.
• You should not be judged by the way you look!
• ​​No, I have never agreed with the attitude that beauty is a curse. Beauty is a blessing
• To Kill A Mockingbird Symbolism Rose Essay
• We propose that the critical analysis essay topic should be Emily’s character and how she evolves as
• Love in Emily’s Story
• 4 Tips for Perfect Roses
• In William Faulkner’s novel, a tragic story of Emily Grierson, is still heart wrench
• 5 Common Misconceptions about Emily
• Civil War And The Events That Led To The Great Gatsby
• Emily’s Behavior is indicative of repressed sexuality and a volatile relationship with her father.
• Should euthanasia be legalized?

Get a Quality Essay on Your Topic

Topic Details

Other Topics

• Things Fall Apart Essay Topics & Ideas
• To Kill A Mockingbird Essay Topics & Ideas
• Animal Farm Essay Topics & Ideas
• Beowulf Essay Topics & Ideas
• Frankenstein Essay Topics & Ideas

Frequently Asked Questions

Don't hesitate to contact us. We are ready to help you 24/7

Hi, my name is Amy 👋

In case you can't find a relevant example, our professional writers are ready to help you write a unique paper. Just talk to our smart assistant Amy and she'll connect you with the best match.

A Rose for Emily Analysis

This essay about “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner offers a profound exploration of human nature and societal dynamics. Through the enigmatic figure of Emily Grierson, Faulkner into themes of tradition, rebellion, and the consequences of isolation. The narrative unravels Emily’s descent into madness and her tragic relationship with Homer Barron, offering poignant commentary on the complexities of the human condition. Faulkner’s non-linear storytelling and vivid imagery create a haunting portrayal of a woman trapped in a world of her own making, inviting readers to ponder the dark intricacies of the human psyche.

How it works

“A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a mesmerizing delve into the intricacies of human nature, societal norms, and the inexorable march of time. Faulkner’s narrative weaves a tapestry of complexity, inviting readers to traverse the labyrinthine corridors of Emily Grierson’s mind and the haunting landscape of her life.

Central to Faulkner’s tale is the enigmatic figure of Emily Grierson, a woman whose existence becomes shrouded in layers of mystery and tragedy. Emily emerges as a relic of a bygone era, a spectral presence haunting the decaying corridors of her once-grand mansion.

Against the backdrop of a town in flux, Emily stands as a testament to the enduring power of tradition and the stubborn refusal to yield to the forces of change.

One of the most compelling aspects of Emily’s character is her defiance of societal norms and expectations. In a world dictated by rigid gender roles and social hierarchies, Emily refuses to be confined to the narrow confines of womanhood prescribed by her society. Instead, she asserts her autonomy and independence, carving out a space for herself in defiance of the expectations thrust upon her.

However, Emily’s rebellion comes at a cost. As she withdraws further into her own world, she becomes increasingly detached from reality, descending into a state of madness and delusion. This descent into madness is palpable in her erratic behavior, from her refusal to acknowledge her father’s death to her chilling actions in the final moments of the narrative.

The relationship between Emily and Homer Barron serves as a focal point of the narrative, highlighting the tension between tradition and progress. Homer, a brash outsider with no ties to the town’s aristocracy, represents everything Emily’s society fears and rejects. Yet, despite their differences, Emily finds herself drawn to Homer, viewing him as a potential escape from the suffocating confines of her own life.

Their ill-fated relationship culminates in tragedy, as Emily’s desperation drives her to commit a heinous act. In murdering Homer and preserving his body as a grotesque monument to their love, Emily seeks to exert control over her own destiny, defying the constraints imposed upon her by society. Yet, in doing so, she only seals her own fate, consigning herself to a life of eternal solitude and despair.

Faulkner’s narrative unfolds in a non-linear fashion, inviting readers to piece together the fragments of Emily’s life and unravel the mysteries that lie at its core. Through a tapestry of vivid imagery and haunting symbolism, Faulkner paints a portrait of a woman trapped in a web of her own making, grappling with the demons that lurk within her soul.

In conclusion, “A Rose for Emily” stands as a timeless exploration of the human condition, probing the depths of madness, isolation, and the inexorable passage of time. Faulkner’s masterful storytelling and evocative prose draw readers into a world of darkness and despair, challenging them to confront the darkness that resides within us all. As a classic of American literature, “A Rose for Emily” continues to captivate and intrigue readers, inviting them to ponder the mysteries of the human psyche and the haunting legacy of the past.

Cite this page

A Rose for Emily Analysis. (2024, Apr 07). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/a-rose-for-emily-analysis/

"A Rose for Emily Analysis." PapersOwl.com , 7 Apr 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/a-rose-for-emily-analysis/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). A Rose for Emily Analysis . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/a-rose-for-emily-analysis/ [Accessed: 21 Aug. 2024]

"A Rose for Emily Analysis." PapersOwl.com, Apr 07, 2024. Accessed August 21, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/a-rose-for-emily-analysis/

"A Rose for Emily Analysis," PapersOwl.com , 07-Apr-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/a-rose-for-emily-analysis/. [Accessed: 21-Aug-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). A Rose for Emily Analysis . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/a-rose-for-emily-analysis/ [Accessed: 21-Aug-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers