本科生期末论文设计
( 2011 届 )
题
目：
解析《献给爱丽丝的玫瑰》
之哥特式爱情的悲与喜
学
院：
专
业：
行 知 学 院
英
语
学生姓名：
娄杜燕
学号：
09556102
指导教师：
江玉娇
职称：
教授
合作导师：
完成时间：
成
绩：
职称：
2011
年
12 月
浙江师范大学本科正文
目
录
Abstract. .......................................................................................................................................... 2
摘要 ................................................................................................................................................ 2
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3
2. A brief introduction of William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily.................................... 3
3. Introduction of the Gothic Characteristics in Literature ............................................ 4
4. The Lament and Jubilance of Gothic Love ................................................................ 5
5. Conclusion ................................................................................................................. 6
Works Cited.................................................................................................................... 7
1
Study on the Lament and Jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose for Emily
Study on the lament and jubilance of Gothic love A Rose for
Emily
Lou Duyan
Abstract:William Faulkner was a towering figure in American literature during the
first half of the 20th century. Faulkner was particularly noted for the eloquent richness
of his prose style and for the unique blend of tragedy and humor in his works. His
novels have a stunning emotional impact and his characters are highly memorable. A
Rose for Emily written by American writer William Faulkner is regarded as the
representative work of southern gothic fiction of America. The story writes Miss
Emily’s tragic life and it’s full of suspense and intensely interesting. The character is
curious, unique，special and the plot is deserted. The theme is death. And the gothic
characteristics were reflected in the novel and because of these gothic characteristics
the author expresses his complicated feeling precisely and fully. The significance of
the study is to share personal opinions about the novel and understand this novel
better and express some new enlightenment and thinking of gothic characteristics in
literature.
Key words: Gothic Style, love, death, forever, truth
解析《献给爱丽丝的玫瑰》之哥特式爱情的悲与喜
娄杜燕
摘 要：威廉·福克纳是 20 世纪中叶美国文学史上伟大人物之一。在福克纳作品中丰富雄辩
的散文风格和独特的悲剧幽默是最大特色。他的小说有着惊人的影响力以及让人难以释怀的
情感。福克纳的著作《献给艾米丽的玫瑰花》被视为美国南方哥特式小说的杰作。这部小说
讲述了爱米丽小姐悲惨的一生，充满悬疑，耐人寻味。主人公独一无二，严肃又特殊的形象，
在荒芜的南部大家族没落之地，死亡便是永恒的主题。故事《献给艾米丽的玫瑰花》的很多
方面都体现了哥特式特点或风格，并且因为它的哥特式特点作者才充分地，准确地表达了他
当时复杂的感情。本文通过对这部小说的了解见解，分析艾米丽在哥特式爱情的悲与喜。
关键词：哥特式风格；真爱；死亡；永恒；真相
2
Study on the Lament and Jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose for Emily
Study on the lament and jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose
for Emily
（English）Lou Duyan
Tutor: Jiang Yujiao
1. Introduction
William Faulkner is one of the most distinguish writer in American literature. He
was born and lived in the South, which influenced him greatly, therefore, most of his
works described the people and their lives in the South. As the appearance of Faulkner,
the South appeared the literary glories of “the South Renaissance”, which ever was
called “the literary desert."(Yu Jianhua, The Second Prosperous of American
Literature, 460).
He invented a county and a town in his imagination, and he wrote about the
society in the South by inventing families which represented different social forces:
the old, decaying upper class; the rising, ambitious, unscrupulous class of “poor
whites”; and the Negroes who labored for both of them. His major works included
Sartoris, The Unvanquished, The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, The Town and
A Rose for Emily (Laurence B.Holland, The Norton Anthology of American Literary,
534-537).
This paper discusses the Gothic characteristics of A Rose for Emily on several
angles, and it is divided into four parts.
In the first part, it introduces the William Faulkner and his A Rose for Emily
briefly and points out the aim and the significance of the study. In the second part it
introduces the gothic characteristics in literature. In the third part which is the most
important part, it points out that the author uses gothic characteristics in A Rose for
Emily. In the last part, it concludes that the lament and jubilance of Gothic love. The
author combines gothic characteristics with the realistic content successfully and
expresses his complicated feeling precisely because of using gothic characteristics.
2. A brief introduction of William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily
Published in 1930, A Rose for Emily was one of the best known and the most
widely read novel among William Faulkner’s short stories. The title is an allegorical
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Study on the Lament and Jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose for Emily
title, the meaning was, here was a woman who has had a tragedy, an irrevocable
tragedy and nothing could be done about it, and I pitied her and this was a salute —
—to a woman you would hand a rose. (Cristina Blanco Outón , Introduccion a la
narrative breve de William Faulkner). The story took place in a mythical town that
William Faulkner called Jefferson, Mississippi. The story happened at the period of
the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries when the town was learning to live
with South’s loss in the Civil War and the consequent dismantling of the
slavery-based society that had preceded it. Because of the loss in the Civil War, people
in the south led a poor life. Especially the white people, their life suddenly become
poor because most of the slaves went to the north to work for the northern industry，so
the white people couldn’t get accustomed to the life change in a short time, but they
still pretended to be noble and kept their family’s dignity (Howard Clin cotton,
American History, 30). The story described a white woman, Emily’s tragic life under
the South’s loss in the Civil War. Emily’s life was strongly dominated by her father,
and she had no right to date with males and choose her lover. After her father’s death,
she could only date with a northern worker. But to her disappointment, the worker
refused to marry her, and the refusal drove her to kill him by using poison, and she let
his body company her. After Emily’s death, the town people discovered a skeleton in
the house, and found out that the poor Emily was a murder, and people were shocked
by the discovery.
Thematically, this short story is not as simple as it seems. The conflicts in the
story can be interpreted on different levels. On the superficial level, it was a murder
story with gothic characteristics. It described an eccentric woman who lived in her old
decaying mysterious house that other people had not visited for decades, and, of
course, a dead body in the house finally was discovered after so many years. On
another level, the story can be read as a conflict between the South and the North with
Emily representing the declining South and Homer Barron representing the North. On
a deeper level, the story explores the inner world of a human being, or the inner
struggle in the human heart.
3. Introduction of the Gothic Characteristics in Literature
The word “Goth” came from the name of a Germanic tribe. The Gothic novel
was the first emergence of Gothic literature, and was sometimes referred to as the
Gothic romance. These kinds of novels were characterized by elements of horror,
suspense and mystery. Gothic novels attempted to find understanding through
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Study on the Lament and Jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose for Emily
exploring the darker side of life. They often contained ruined old buildings, wild
landscapes, good and handsome heroes, terrified heroines and, of course, an evil
character. Southern Gothic literature is a more recent Gothic subgenre, where tales are
set in the American South. The characteristics of Southern Gothic writing include use
of the ironic, unusual, absurd or supernatural. Unlike previous forms of Gothic writing,
Southern Gothic authors don't do this purely for suspense or entertainment, but rather
to explore the topics of social change and unrest in the Southern states. Protagonists in
Southern Gothic literature tend not to conform to stereotypes. They are usually flawed
and often grotesque. The so-called “Gothic Revival" appeared in aspects of
architecture and literature during eighteenth century to nineteenth century, which was
the gloomy and depressed tone in middle age. In a short, the novels with the gothic
characteristics reveal a mysterious, horrible, depressed and gloomy atmosphere. Since
the 18th century, the gothic characteristics had been used in the literary works
popularly, and there are many famous novels with the gothic characteristics, such as
Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights，Notre Dame de Paris, A Rose for Emily and so on. A
Rose for Emily is especially the most representative work of gothic fiction.
4. The Lament and Jubilance of Gothic Love
When talk about William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily. We may think that, of course, the
novel is a tragedy. At Emily’s times, women were controlled by men strongly. Before marriage,
women were controlled by fathers, so they had no right to choose their lovers or partners. Emily
couldn’t go out to make friends as often as she can, and her father thought there’s no man who’s
good enough to match his daughter in their town, so she was still single when she was thirty years
old. When her father died, she depended on her father so much that she was not wiling to bury his
father. After his father’s death, she had no courage to face the outside world alone, so she went
outside seldom, and her neighbors were curious about her life and guessed how her life was going
from her and her servant’s actions. And then the Northern worker Homer appeared and Emily was
attracted by him, and Emily was too lonely and empty, and she was eager to his company, but to
her disappointment, he refused to marry her. She knew that she couldn’t control his life when he
was alive, so she decided to kill him. In order to own him forever, Emily killed him by using drug.
To a large extent, Emily’s life was deeply affected by her father’s control, even ruined by her
father. If there’s no her father’s strong control, she might get married at the right time and
certainly she wouldn’t make her lover company by killing him. All of these contributed to the
tragedy of Emily.
However, on the other hand we may see Emily was bold, resolute and she was
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Study on the Lament and Jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose for Emily
pursuitting for freedom. Actually, she was an unrealistic stubborn woman. She did not want to
dispose of her father's body, and “She told them that her father was not dead.” (William
Faulkner, 106) Ignoring the law, she refused to pay the taxes and repeated that “I have no taxes
in Jefferson.” Moreover, she asked the officials to get explanation from Colonel Sartoris, who ever
remitted her taxes. It seemed that she did not know Colonel Sartoris was dead before ten years. “It
can be believed that her refusal to pay the taxes symbolizes the refusal to accept the changed
society to some extent.”(Zhu Zhenwu, Study on Foreign Literature, 34). She took pain to
keep her superior, dignity and the southern fair lady impression. And it indicated people in the
south led a poor life and South’s loss. Most of the slaves went to the north to work for the northern
industry，so the white people couldn’t get accustomed to the life change in a short time, but they
still pretended to be noble and kept their family’s dignity (Howard Clin cotton, American
History, 30)
5. Conclusion
With the analysis of A Rose for Emily, we know the author Faulkner expresses his
complicated feeling for the South’s loss precisely by using gothic characteristics. Faulkner express
his feeling by writing Emily’s twisted character to shows his complaint for the backward system
and decayed thought of the South. Faulkner showed Emily’s efforts to hold to the south tradition
and her suffering in facing the conflicts between the South plantation system and the North
industrialization. Emily was clearly not a sick or twisted woman but a woman that was fighting for
her right to live and be happy as much as she could. At the same time, we can see a vivid picture
about the miserable life of the southern people after the Civil War. So A Rose for Emily shows us
the perfect combination between gothic characteristic and realistic content. It give us the lament
and jubilance of gothic love. Faulkner fills the gothic style accords with the environment of the
decline of the south. Beside this, he ills the gothic style with the realistic content and his own
emotion. Further more, Faulkner pours the fierce emotion and fresh air into the old form, which
makes A Rose for Emily superior to the gothic fiction and the literary main stream in Victorian
time. The “rose” which represents love, beauty, youth and innocence, was to show the author’s
great respect and sympathy for Emily. Nobody could stop the tragedy of a poor woman and a rose
was to show his respect and sympathy for her. The double roses indeed were one; it had radiant
petals but gave out a smell of rotten mouse.
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Study on the Lament and Jubilance of Gothic love of A Rose for Emily
Works Cited
Gross Louis.S. (1989). Redefining the American Gothic from Wieland to the Day of
Dead. Ann Arbor: UmI Research Press.
Howard Clin Cotton. (1994). American History. United States Information Agency.
Jay Pariniet. (1989). The Norton Anthology of American Literary (pp2031). New York
and London: W. W. Norton & Company.
Mark Madoff. (1979). The Useful Myth of Gothic Ancestry. Studies in
Eighteenth-Century Culture 23 (3), 22-48.
William Faulkner. (2003). A Rose for Emily. In Yang Limin(Ed), Contemporary
College English(pp102-110). Bei Jing: Foreign Language Teaching and Research
Press.
肖明翰，2001，英美文学中的哥特传统,《外国文学评论》。
虞建华等，2004，《美国文学的第二次繁荣》。上海：上海外语教育出版社。
张奎武，2002，《英美概况（下）》(P74--82)。吉林：吉林科学技术出版社。
朱振武，2003，夏娃的毁灭：福克纳小说创作的女性范式，《外国文学研究》
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