Binary Opposition, Chronology of Time and Female Identity in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily

Forough Barani, Wan Roselezam Wan Yahya

Abstract


In any work of imaginative literature, binary oppositions, the specifics of time and the characterization of the protagonist play some role, no matter how small and insignificant. Reading Faulkner’s short story “A Rose for Emily” in light of the conflicts of the old and the new, the tradition and the traditionless, the chronology of time and its effect on the reader, and the characterization of the female protagonist was indicative of the influence of cultural elements in analyzing the story. While Faulkner was doubtless a major artist in terms of depicting the life of Southerners of the time and changes in the norms and codes of their lifestyle, the reader and the cautious critic also will have a distinct, and often contradictory, interpretation of a given text from the point of view and theoretical perspective that he/she adopts.

 


Keywords


Opposites, chronology, time, tradition, decay

Full Text:

PDF

References


Dilworth, T. (1999). A Romance to Kill for: Homicidal Complicity in Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily. Studies in Short Fiction 36(3), 251-62.

Faulkner, W. (1943). A Rose for Emily. Collected Stories of William Faulkner. New York: Random House, 119 130. Print.

Fetterley, J. (1978). The Resisting Reader: A Feminist Approach to American Literature." Bloomington: Indiana UP, 34-35.

Getty, Laura J. (2005). Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. Explicator, 63(4), 230-34.

Nebeker, H.E. (1970). Emily's Rose of Love: Thematic Implications of Point of View in Faulkner's “A Rose for Emily"." The Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, 24(1), 3-13. Print.

Nebeker, H.E. (1970). Emily's Rose of Love: A Postscript." The Bulletin of the Rocky Mountain Modern Language Association, 24(4), 190-91.

Petry, A.H. (1986). Faulkner's ‘A Rose for Emily.'" Explicator 44, 52-54.

Scherting, J. (1980). Emily Grierson’s Oedipus Complex: Motif, Motive, And Meaning in Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’." Studies in Short Fiction 17(4)397-405.

Watkins, F.C. (1954). The Structure of “A Rose for Emily"." Modern Language Notes, 69(7), 508-10. Print.

West, Ray B. Jr. (1988). Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily." Short Story Criticism, 1, 148-50.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.2p.155

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


Bookmark and Share


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

2012-2023 (CC-BY) Australian International Academic Centre PTY.LTD. 

International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the journal emails into your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders.