Rose for Emily by William

¶ … Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. Specifically it will discuss the roles of women in the South illustrated in the story. Emily's story takes place in the Reconstruction period of the South after the Civil War, and it indicates the limited roles women had in society at the time. Southern women had little to hope for but marriage, children, and gossip. Emily experienced only the gossip, and this tragic story illustrates how this limited lifestyle affecter her and other women of the South.

From the beginning of this story, it is clear this small southern town is living in the past, when times were more genteel and women had a much different place in society. Throughout the story, Faulkner drops hints about Miss Emily, the ladies of the town, and where they stand in society and importance. Early in the story Faulkner writes, "Only a man of Colonel Sartoris' generation and thought could have invented it, and only a woman could have believed it" (Faulkner). Immediately it is clear the women do not hold much respect in the men's eyes, and it is the men who operate the town. The women simply serve a purpose. They hold a better place in the town than the Negroes (whose women cannot appear on the street without an apron), but only by a little. The women are seen as silly, nonsensical, and unimportant, which is one reason no one really takes Miss Emily seriously, or really investigates what is going on in her house. She is a woman, and she could not possibly do anything of consequence.

It is the women of the town who gossip about her, complain about the smell emitting from her home, and generally keep Miss Emily in the public eye. By becoming a recluse, she has interested the town in her troubles, and the women will not let her "rest in peace." Instead, they have to conjecture why she shuts herself up, and reminisce about the man who did not marry her, but strung her along. None of them are able to imagine the truth, however. Their gossip seems harmless, but it is biting, and Miss Emily knows that. This is another indicator of the place of southern women in the society of the South. They have little to do all day but gossip and mind other people's business, which indicates the unimportance of their own lives and interests.

In addition, the story shows how the men think the women are unimportant, but they still have standards they use to treat a lady. They are afraid to confront Miss Emily and tell her the home smells bad, so instead, they sneak around in the middle of the night to dry and "deodorize" the house. They cannot confront women head on, and so, they go behind their backs and sneak around in the dark. This indicates the lack of depth of relationship between southern men and women, largely because the men respect the women, but do not truly believe they have any intelligence or purpose, other than gossip and homemaking.

Because they have little else to do but gossip and speculate, the women fixate on Miss Emily because she is different. Women in the South have little to look forward to but marriage, motherhood, and gossip, according to this story. Miss Emily is different, because she has none of these trappings of womanhood, and so, the other women concern themselves with her life and plight. They feel sorry for her, and pity her, but they do not take any steps toward befriending or understanding her. Faulkner writes, "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" (Faulkner). The women are not humanitarians, which is another clue to their place in society. They do not seem themselves as caring or helpmates, they see themselves as aloof and removed from the situation, and no one puts out a hand to Miss Emily in friendship or concern. They leave those details to the men, who ignore them entirely. In fact, these southern women are not very nice, and Faulkner makes that very clear throughout the story.

Faulkner makes it very clear throughout the story that her father, who carried a bullwhip even in the house, dominated Miss Emily. This implies that he chased away any chance at love Miss Emily might have had. She does not find a sweetheart until after her father dies, and she is so sheltered and incapable of dealing with rejection that she cannot deal with the fact this man might not really love her. Her father has not prepared her for life in the "real" world, and so, she has no real tools to deal with rejection, loss of love, and lack of concern from others. Instead, she kills the man she loves so she will never be "alone," and then shuts herself away from the society that judges her.