Critical theory applied to A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner - Research Paper Example

several themes life, death, racism, aristocracy, love, grief, traditions, withdrawal from society, oppression, fantasy, self-defence, denial of change and death, and unacceptable future trends together. Antifeminist theory in the play is easily seen through the opening lines of the play, when Faulkner inscribes how men went to the funeral of Miss Emily Grierson due to deferential liking and women only for the sake of inquisitiveness. The tale begins how women were treated and seen in the South and what roles they mainly portrayed.

Their character has been portrayed as secondary and their nature low in dignity. The same can be seen in Emily’s character, who has been a subject of her father’s oppression for years and when he died she enters into the mode of denial, rebellion for not adapting change, cold fervour to kill Homer Baron and to live with his corpse till her death. Emily belonged to an elite Aristocratic family of the South, her father made sure that she did not meet any suitor in her prime age and he kept her isolated from others and financially dependent.

In patriarchal society women of elite class were duty bounded, they had to be dependent and obedient to their fathers and husbands. Since Emily’s father did not want her to wed. Therefore, he made sure that she should not possess any talent as well to earn her own living, which makes him the sole guardian for her and that is how he ruled over her (156, Tyson). This treatment of love or over protectiveness, dominance; later on affected her psychological development to such an extent that his portrait reminded her of the rules, he engraved on her memory.

After his death she was completely isolates herself from the rest of the town, kills her only lover Homer Barron, kept his dead body to love him till death and defied any change, which occurred outside her house (like installation of mailboxes and metallic number plates for houses). The presence of cast, creed and class ensures Marxist theory;