William Faulkner’s short story, “A Rose for Emily” is a tale told from a third person voice, of a young lady by the name of Miss Emily Grierson. Being the this story is meant to take place in the early 20th century in southern society, Miss Emily and the other townswomen are perfectly depicted as oppressed women who are deduced to the quintessential societal images of women. Miss Emily was forced to live in the shadow of her father and was required to comply with the demands and wishes that he presented. Miss Emily was unable to, marry or date any man, as this would go against her father’s intentions. This fact remains true, until her father passes away and she is introduced to an exuberant character by the name of Homer Barron. As the story
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The townspeople make it their responsibility to assist Miss Emily being that they feel a sense of obligation to her being that she was a damsel in distress. Upon the initial description of Miss Emily, the narrator portrays her as being 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…remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity.”(516) Being that women during this time were expected to rear children and partake in relatively remedial tasks, they would have had no knowledge of the importance of finances. Being that Miss Emily’s father passed away and that she was not allotted another masculine figure to commandeer her affairs, the mayor relieved Miss Emily of this task. According to the author Judith Fetterley, “Sartoris’s act of remission of her taxes is a public statement of the fact that a lady, is she is to survive, must have either husband or father, and that because Miss Emily had neither, the town must assume responsibility of her.”(533) By the mayor releasing Miss Emily of her civil duty of paying taxes, this robs her of the ability to be an …show more content…
Men categorized women to fit a range of standards and reduced them to certain collective expectations. Of these criterion that women were intended to fit, one of the most important being a superficial standard of attraction or perceived beauty. By strictly perceiving ladies on their outward appearance, it is implied that their importance in society is firmly based upon how others identify them. Being that Miss Emily has a limited interaction with the community in which she lives, her very existence is left up to the interpretation of the narrator, also known as the townswomen, who adhere to the misogynistic attitude that men held toward women during this time. Instead of presenting Miss Emily with heartfelt compassion and sincerity, the women of the town reduce her existence to her superficial appearance. In the beginning of the story, the narrator depicts Miss Emily in a scene with her father in which she is described as “a slender figure in white in the background.”(518) At this point, Miss Emily is apparently young and of age to wed. By the description of her being an image in white alludes to the fact that she attains a level of innocence. Although her other physical attributes are not described in detail, the reader can presume that she attains the general characteristics that the townspeople would perceive as relatively attractive. As Miss Emily ages and the story advances, the
The townspeople make it their responsibility to assist Miss Emily being that they feel a sense of obligation to her being that she was a damsel in distress. Upon the initial description of Miss Emily, the narrator portrays her as being 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…remitted her taxes, the dispensation dating from the death of her father on into perpetuity.”(516) Being that women during this time were expected to rear children and partake in relatively remedial tasks, they would have had no knowledge of the importance of finances. Being that Miss Emily’s father passed away and that she was not allotted another masculine figure to commandeer her affairs, the mayor relieved Miss Emily of this task. According to the author Judith Fetterley, “Sartoris’s act of remission of her taxes is a public statement of the fact that a lady, is she is to survive, must have either husband or father, and that because Miss Emily had neither, the town must assume responsibility of her.”(533) By the mayor releasing Miss Emily of her civil duty of paying taxes, this robs her of the ability to be an …show more content…
Men categorized women to fit a range of standards and reduced them to certain collective expectations. Of these criterion that women were intended to fit, one of the most important being a superficial standard of attraction or perceived beauty. By strictly perceiving ladies on their outward appearance, it is implied that their importance in society is firmly based upon how others identify them. Being that Miss Emily has a limited interaction with the community in which she lives, her very existence is left up to the interpretation of the narrator, also known as the townswomen, who adhere to the misogynistic attitude that men held toward women during this time. Instead of presenting Miss Emily with heartfelt compassion and sincerity, the women of the town reduce her existence to her superficial appearance. In the beginning of the story, the narrator depicts Miss Emily in a scene with her father in which she is described as “a slender figure in white in the background.”(518) At this point, Miss Emily is apparently young and of age to wed. By the description of her being an image in white alludes to the fact that she attains a level of innocence. Although her other physical attributes are not described in detail, the reader can presume that she attains the general characteristics that the townspeople would perceive as relatively attractive. As Miss Emily ages and the story advances, the