By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘A Rose for Emily’ is William Faulkner’s most widely studied short story, and its distinctive narrative voice is one reason for the story’s continued appeal. More so than ‘Barn Burning’ and ‘Dry September’, which are probably Faulkner’s other best-known stories, ‘A Rose for Emily’ […]
Tag: William Faulkner
The Setting of Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘A Rose for Emily’ is a classic American short story with an unsettling denouement on the final page. In just a dozen pages, William Faulkner’s narrator conjures an ageing matriarch of the Old South, telling us about her life, her love, and her death.
The Symbolism of ‘A Rose for Emily’ Explained
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘A Rose for Emily’ is one of the most widely studied American short stories of the twentieth century, but the subtle narrative style and William Faulkner’s use of symbolism are often difficult to interpret. Starting with the ‘rose’ in the story’s title, the text […]
‘A Rose for Emily’: Characters
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) ‘A Rose for Emily’ by William Faulkner contains some memorable characters besides Emily herself. Even the narrator is a curious creation and deserving of further discussion, since Faulkner does some interesting things with narrative in his short story. Let’s take a closer look at […]
‘A Rose for Emily’: Themes
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University) William Faulkner’s celebrated short story ‘A Rose for Emily’, which was initially published in Forum in 1930 before being reprinted in his short-story collection These Thirteen the following year, encompasses a great number of important and weighty themes within its dozen or so pages.