Abstract

“A Rose for Emily” proceeds in a nonlinear fashion to the narrator's recollections of Emily's archaic and increasingly strange behavior throughout the years. It is a short story which opens with a brief first-person account of the funeral of Emily Grierson, an elderly Southern spinster. Here the first-person refers to “us”, which stands for the men who pay most attention to Emily. Besides the men, the second- person account of “they” is also a part of the story which represents the group--the old people, who are the hard-core protectors of the patriarchal authority. They are a lasting existence of her father, which imposes much stress on Emily’s pursuit of love after her father’s death. The third group are the vulnerable group--the women, although they are the same victims of the times like Emily, they spare no efforts to prevent Emily from happiness by making irresponsible remarks. From the three different groups’ angles, this paper focuses on the social causes of Emily's tragic fate through studying their linguistic and psychological characteristics. Jefferson, a small town, should be of simple folkway with people of artless grace and simple goodness. However, Emily, a descendant of the aristocracy, is under pressure from the townspeople’s obsession with finding fault, and finally, her pursuit of love and happiness are hindered by the excessive attention from these different groups. This contributes significantly to Emily’s tragedy. Since Emily lives in that society, she must subject herself to the social system and integrate herself into the community. But as a rebellious female in a male-dominated society, her pursuit of love and happiness are doomed to fail.

Key words:  old people; women; men; aristocracy; indifference; pressure

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-1

Relevant Studies of “A Rose for Emily” in Literary Criticism-1

I. The Irony in Their Language Spoken-3

1.1-“Rose” and “Poor Emily”-3

1.2The Irony in Social Environment-4

II. Town People’s Linguistics and Characteristics-5

2.1. Three Groups of People in Narration-5

2.1.1The Representative of Old Generation-Patriarchal Authority-5

2.1.2 The Men’s Effect on Emily-6

2.1.3 The Vulnerable Women Group’s Influence-6

2.2 Emily’s Complex Psychological Process of Change-7

III.Three Pairs of Contradiction-7

3.1The Old People and the New Generation-7

3.2The South and the North-8

3.3 The Negro and the Townspeople-8

Conclusion-9

References-10