
A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner is a southern gothic tale that takes place in the reconstructive south.  It begins with the funeral of Emily Grierson who from the first couple of lines seems to be a very well-known lady.  This was not because she knew everybody per se, but because everyone knew of her and from the stories that have been circulated around about her.  Nobody had seen the inside of her house for over ten years.  She kept to herself and had her man-servant Toby, do all her errands for her. At the end of the story it is revealed to us in a very dragged out fashion that Emily Grierson killed the man she loved and had been sleeping with his corpse for years.  Even during the reconstructive south this would be an extremely weird and bizarre act.   Further research into this time period however helps give a deeper understanding of many elements in the story.  By studying the Antebellum/Reconstructive south time period more you can get a better understanding of many of the comments towards Emily Grierson, help clear up misunderstandings in the language of the text, and help understand the actions of the characters throughout the story.  

During the Antebellum there were certain expectations of how a woman should conduct herself.  Women during this time were usually a submissive type who obeyed the man figure that was present in their life.  Typically this would either be with their father or later in their lives, their husband.  It was generally expected of women to get married and then to be the general housekeeper and do the household chores, to take care of the kids if they had any, and to cook.  There expectation to be the primary cooks of Women couldn't even sign contracts if they were married.  Rarely could they ever file for a divorce and only in rarer cases would they receive custody of their children.  This could be why there was some resentment towards Emily at the end of the story because she never got married, but remained single her entire life.  She was supposed to marry Homer, but it can be interpreted from the text that he did not want to get married.  In the story we see many of the ladies feeling sorry for Emily and her relationship with Homer.  Homer was a day laborer and a northerner.  In the reconstructive south many southerners hated these new laborers and referred to them as "carpetbaggers".  In the south this term was used to describe a norther who was seeking economic gain from the new abundance of jobs that were available now that slaves weren't used a labor force anymore.  These people were resented by the southerners because they were seen " ... as opportunists looking to exploit and profit from the region's misfortunes ... " (Carpetbaggers & Scalawags).  It was seen in the story that many ladies would just say "poor Emily" as they were seen together throughout the town.  This was not only because he was a northerner but also the fact that he was a day laborer was a very bad thing for Emily.  As Emily was seen as a more of nobility in her time in the south she was not supposed to acquaint herself with a man that was in a lesser class than herself.  For southern women in particular " ... wealth was the primary factor in arranging marriage or choosing a husband" (Volo).  So for Emily to go after a day laborer was looked down upon and was seen in a very negative way.  

  During the Antebellum period it was the traditional for the household to be paternalistic with the man to being the one in charge.  The reason for this structure ties back to the ownership of slaves by southern men during that time.  In the south " ... the entire system of slavery relied on the paternalistic idea that a man who owned slaves should be the father figure for them ... " (Poppendorf).  Because they had to be the person in charge in the eyes of their slaves, men naturally took over as the lead member of the household, making the women of this time very submissive.  During this time the father was responsible for his daughter's well-being while she was at the house.  It was typical then that after the daughter become old enough and found a man "the responsibilities of the father often fell upon a young lady's husband" (Poppendorf).  However in the case of Emily Grierson's father he never let go of his responsibilities as the primary caretaker of his daughter.  He scared off any man that approached Emily leaving her with no chance of having a man in her life until she was almost 30.  An age during this time where it was almost too late for her to marry.  During this time especially " ... women in the South married at a younger age-almost four years younger on average-than their northern counterparts" (Volo).  This left Emily alone which as discussed earlier made her have to pursue a northern man who was below her class creating resentment towards her from the rest of the town.   

Emily's behavior can also help be explained by the culture of the time period she was from.  Her compulsive behavior can be linked to her father's behavior.  And as stated earlier his behavior is a form of how men were supposed to be during that time.  But other things can be explained from the culture of the period.  A norm of the era was for women to not work.  During this time it was typical that men would work and earn the income for the household while the wife stayed home and took care of the house.  During this time "more than 80 percent of American men and women declared that it was wrong for wives to work outside the home if their husbands were employed." (Chafe).  Many women would work before they were married and do jobs like schoolteacher but it was even seen in some situations that "School systems throughout the country refused to hire women teachers if they were married, and fired them if they got married after being employed" (Chafe).  This left women to do small menial or small tasks.  We see this with Emily's attempt to teach painting china in the story.  However even this became outdated and left Emily with nothing else to do.  In the story it can be assumed that Emily killed Homer because he did not want to marry her but he did not want her to leave her.  Even as this could be true there could also be a sense that it was easier for Emily to kill the person she loved and sleep with his dead corpse than to go back to being oppressed like she was when her father was alive.  Even though it is not explicitly said in the story, women during her time were very oppressed with little to no rights once they were married.  Many women hated how powerless they were after they were married and felt trapped in their own life by their husbands.  So even though it not the way the story seems to be telling the tale it could have played a role in Emily's decision to kill Homer.  

Throughout the story there can be many misconceptions and misunderstandings of what is being meant.  One of the biggest misconceptions in the story is the idea that Emily's partner Homer is homosexual and that is the reason why he does not want to marry her.  This however after reading about the language of the time period is a big misunderstanding that is bound to happen because of the way language changes.  Homer in the story is heard to prefer spending his time drinking with the younger men and was not the marrying kind. That had a different meaning than what it means today when this story was made and was meant to be "used in America during the 1930s, when many heterosexual men seemed to think they were not the "marrying kind" and said that they preferred the "bachelor life." (Mezo).  This misunderstanding isn't critical to the plot but it changes a small detail of Homer not wanting to marry Emily because of his sexuality when it turns out he actually just had a problem of commitment.  

The tale of A Rose for Emily is a different tale written in a way that surprises and shocks you in different ways.  During the time this story was written it was time with a culture that was very different from culture today.  The further research into this culture helps you further understand many different elements in the story.  We can explain Emily's fathers behavior to the way that men had to conduct themselves during that time to give them authority over their slaves.  It is also revealed in deeper research that Homer is in fact not gay.  And it can help explain why the town had at times such a negative view towards Emily.  Without this research you can still understand the general story but with the added information you have a better understanding of not only what is happening but why the story was made and the message it was trying to convey.   

