论《献给艾米丽的玫瑰花》中的哥特式情结

1、 毕 业 论 文论献给艾米丽的玫瑰花中的哥特式情结学 校 专 业 姓 名 学 号 班 级 指 导 教 师 院 系 二一一年二月论献给艾米丽的一支玫瑰花中的哥特式情结 摘 要美国作家威廉.福克纳的作品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。这篇论文主要从几个角度讨论了献给艾米丽的玫瑰花的哥特式风格。这篇论文分为四部分，第一部分，对威廉.福克纳和他的短篇小说献给艾米莉的玫瑰花作了简要的介绍，并且指出了这篇论文的目的和意义。第二部分主要介绍了哥特式文学的来源和哥特式特点在文学上的体现。第三部分,也是这篇论文最重要部分，通过分析环境描写

2、，主题，叙述方式还有人物描写来体现献给艾米丽的玫瑰花中的哥特式特点或风格。最后部分对这篇论文作了总结，它所得出的结论是献给艾米丽的玫瑰花很多方面体现了哥特式特点，并且因为它的哥特式特点作者才成功地表达了他所想表达的主题。关键词：哥特情结；环境描写；主题；叙述方式；人物Study on the Gothic Complex in A Rose for EmilyAbstractA Rose for Emily written by American writer William Faulkner is regarded as the representative work of southern

3、 gothic fiction of America. The story writes Miss Emilys tragic life and its full of suspense and intensely interesting. 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

4、 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 from four aspects of the de

5、scription of environment, the theme, the narrative way, and the character. In the last part, it concludes that the author combines gothic characteristics with the realistic content successfully and expresses his complicated feeling precisely because of using gothic characteristics. Key words: gothic

6、 complex; environment description; theme; narrative way; character ContentsAbstracti内 容 摘 要ii1. Introduction11.1 A brief introduction of William Faulkner and his A Rose for Emily11.2 Introduction of the Gothic Characteristics in Literature22.Literature Review.33.The Gothic Characteristics in A Rose

7、for Emily.4 3.1 The gothic characteristics in the description of environment43.2 The gothic characteristics in the theme of A Rose for Emily53.3 The gothic characteristics in the narrative way of A Rose for Emily63.4 The gothic characteristics in the character 84.Conclusion12Bibliography13Study on t

8、he Gothic Complex inA Rose for Emily1. Introduction 1.1 A brief introduction of William Faulkner and his A Rose for EmilyWilliam 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 descr

9、ibed 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 imaginati

10、on, 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 Unvanquishe

11、d, 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).Published in 1930, A Rose for Emily was one of the best known and the most widely read novel among William Faulkners short stories. The story took place i

12、n 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 Souths loss in the Civil War and the consequent dismantling of the slavery-based society that had prece

13、ded 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 couldnt get accustomed to the life change in a short time

14、, but they still pretended to be noble and kept their familys dignity (Howard Clin cotton, American History, 30). The story described a white woman, Emilys tragic life under the Souths loss in the Civil War. Emilys life was strongly dominated by her father, and she had no right to date with males an

15、d choose her lover. After her fathers 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 Emilys death, the town people discovered a skeleton in t

16、he 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 characterist

17、ics. 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 Nort

18、h 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.1.2 Introduction of the Gothic Characteristics in LiteratureThe word “Goth” came from the name of a

19、Germanic tribe. The gothic people were famous for their brutal and uncivilized features. They ever lived in north Europe, then invaded in Rome Empire from the third AD century to the fifth AD century, and set many kingdoms in Italy, Spain, south part of France and North Africa. A thousand years late

20、r, after the Rome Empire died out, Italian Vasari (1511-1574) used the Goth for the first time to refer to an architectural style in middle age, which was tall sharp pointed, vaulted roof or tower ,narrow windows, colorful glass, darkness houses, gloomy ladders.(Xiao Minghan, Criticism of Foreign Li

21、terature, 9) The gothic architecture was originated in France in 11th century, and it was popular in Europe from 13th century to 15th century. This kind of architecture style mostly is seen in the church, and also in common architecture. The gothic architecture has a high status in the history of ar

22、chitecture because of its excellent skill and its achievement in the field of art. The gothic characteristics not only appear in architecture, but also appear in many fields such as literature, movie, music and clothing.The so-called “Gothic Revival appeared in aspects of architecture and literature

23、 during eighteenth century to nineteenth century, which was the gloomy and depressed tone in middle age. Meanwhile, some literary works enjoyed the same tone with Gothic fiction in the time. Take Horace Walpole for example, his The Castle of Otranto set an example for early classic gothic fiction. T

24、he birth of Gothic fiction” was not only related with the Gothic feeling of the cemetery poetry of England, but related with the Gothic characteristics，the aesthetic standard of Edmund Burke (1729-1797) as well.The gothic characteristics in literature are that the story mostly takes place in a dista

25、nt ages and desolate places, the characters are locked or imprisoned in narrow spaces or in a mysterious gothic building and suspense often mingles with love. There are some usual ways of suspense, such as mysterious inheritance, secret antecedents, lost will, the secret of family, ancestral curse a

26、nd so on. And at the end of the story, the mystery or the suspense is solved, the evildoer is discovered and the impediment of the love between the hero and the heroine is brushed aside. Compared with romantic fiction, the gothic fiction mostly describes adventurous story and the impediment of love

27、mostly is caused by the evildoer, while the romantic fiction mostly describes the familys triviality, and the impediment of the love in the romantic fiction between characters is caused by them. The theme of the gothic story mostly reveals through death, murder, violence and horrible scene. In a sho

28、rt, 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, Wuther

29、ing 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. 2.Literature ReviewAfter I look up in CNKI, China Journal Net, VIP information and other journals I have found two academic journals that are consistent with my

30、 thesis.I foundthree similar papers ,they are Zhang Qi, Zhangxuezhu. A Rose for Emily on the Gothic Features 【M】. Leshan Teachers College, 2003,11, Huang Fu Yan, 2011, rose ashes, love into a poem - on the Gothic features of Emily Rose, weand Yuhuan Huan, 2009.8 William Faulkner dedicated to Amy Got

31、hic Rose Li in the complex Jiannan Literature ,and their main view is that A Rose for Emilyis an outstanding 20th century American novelist William Faulkners short stories. A striking feature of this novel is the use of Gothic Marxism.This article will focus on the Gothic complex inA Rose for Emily

32、in orderto help readers better understand this masterpiece.In A Rose for Emily, Faulkner uses the gothic literary artistic expression,making their characterization, description of environment, atmosphere, setting and plot are all rendered with rich Gothic colors, through the description of Ai Millie

33、s life tragedy to expose the dark side of Southern society, accused the South Puritan tradition and patriarchal society the persecution of women.3. The Gothic Characteristics in A Rose for EmilySavoy Eric(1970) mentioned: “its very contradictory that a kind of literature, which is twined by the immo

34、rtal history and attracted by queer grief, came into being in the country which believes in freedom and pursues the happiness of individual.” He said ironically the existence of gothic characteristics in American literature. Although the society advocated pursuing happiness and freedom, the unfairne

35、ss and ugliness still existed and then the gothic literature appeared. Faulkner, the author of this novel lived in a special environment which was full of depressing and gloomy atmosphere due to the Souths loss in the Civil War. “Therefore, his habit, thinking way and life attitude closely related w

36、ith this unfortunate field.” (Jay Parinier, The Norton Anthology of American Literary, 633). He had complicated feeling for his hometowns loss in the Civil War. On one hand, he complained about the poor or miserable life caused by the war, and had a little hatred for the North. On the other hand, he

37、 praised the improvement of human being caused by the war, because the war opened the door of eliminating slavery system, so he only could express his complicated feeling for the Souths loss precisely by using gothic characteristics in his literature. In A Rose for Emily, he used gothic characterist

38、ic in many aspect such as scene or the description of Emilys house, theme, narrative way, character. 3.1 The gothic characteristics in the description of environmentThe gothic story usually takes place in isolated places where people seldom visit, such as a hidden castle in the jungle, a farmstead,

39、and old dilapidated house and so on. The author attached much importance to the description of the scene and playing up the mysterious and horrible atmosphere. Baron Armond(1972)said:“ the word “mystery” connects with the gothic characteristics naturally.” Emilys house embodies gothic characteristic

40、s.Emilys house was a special style building made of wood. When her parents were alive, the house was noble style, which had once been white, decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies in the heavily lightsome style of the Seventies.(William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). As the time pass

41、ed, however, the house still kept its outdated style and lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay.(William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily).We could feel an incompatible atmosphere with the age. And the description of the house also revealed Emilys character that she rejected the modernized or changed w

42、orld stubbornly.Several years later, the deputation had a chance to go into Emilys house for the first time. They went into “a dim hall from which a stairway mounted into still more shadow. (William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). Moreover, there was a dust and disuse-a close, dank smell(William Faulkn

43、er, A Rose for Emily). in the air. The parlor was furnished in heavy, leather-covered furniture. (William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). Faulkner described a dim and mysterious picture for us. And this mysterious picture made readers curious about her life in the house.It was really shocking that the

44、town people saw in Emilys base room. “A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as a bridal. (William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily). Homers skeleton had apparently once lain in the attitude of an embrace. (William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily) . The s

45、econd pillow which was in the same bed was the indentation of a head. It is clearly that it was Emilys long strand of iron-gray hair. Homer had been missed for forty years, and Emily had been slept with his skeleton for forty years. Sepulchral atmosphere spread the air. It is shocking and absolutely

46、 terrible. But it is not Faulkner who originally adds the terror element in fiction; it is the traditional style of “gothic characteristics. Faulkner not only uses these characteristics in A Rose for Emily, but exaggerates several details such as murder, violence, etc. So the description of Emilys h

47、ouse created the mysterious and horrible atmosphere successfully and connected the mystery with gothic characteristics naturally.3.2 The gothic characteristics in the theme of A Rose for Emily Mostly, the characteristics of the theme in gothic literature are that the author reveals the evil of human

48、 being and attacks the dark side of the society, such as the unfairness and crime through death, murder, violence and revenge.Gross, Louis.S(1979) pointed out: “the difference between American gothic literature and European gothic literature is that the European gothic literature is mostly regarded

49、as escapism and rejected by people, while American gothic literature speaks out peoples voice, especially people who are special such as females, homosexual, colored races and so on, although American gothic literature is still fictitious.” Due to people are not allowed to express their depressed fe

50、eling caused by the insecure society or the dark side of society, they can only express the feeling indirectly by gothic discourse or using gothic characteristics in literature.At Emilys times, women were controlled by men strongly. Before marriage, women were controlled by fathers, so they had no r

51、ight to choose their lovers or partners. Emily couldnt go out to make friends as often as she can, and her father thought theres no man whos 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 muc

52、h that she was not wiling to bury his father. After his fathers 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 servants actions. And then the Northern worker Home

53、r 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 couldnt control his life when he was alive, so she decided to kill him. In order to own him forever, Emily killed him

54、 by using drug. To a large extent, Emilys life was deeply affected by her fathers control, even ruined by her father. If theres no her fathers strong control, she might get married at the right time and certainly she wouldnt make her lover company by killing him. So the theme of the short story whic

55、h the author was trying to show was that he attacked the mens domination over women by Emilys murder, her necrophilia, and her separation from outside for many years, and meanwhile the author also showed his sympathy for women and he spoke for womens freedom. Besides, the story also showed southern

56、peoples suffering and anxiety after their loss in the Civil War. Especially the white people, they couldnt easily get accustomed to the life without slaves, and their life became totally miserable, and they cherished the memory of the past rich life; and they still thought that they were superior to

57、 others, and kept their familys dignity. But in their deep heart, they hated the northern people who were destroyers of their happiness, so Emilys killing Homer showed their hatred for the North. And Homers refusal to marry to Emily showed the northern peoples contempt for the backward system of the

58、 South. In brief, the author also attacked the decayed thought of white people in the South by Emilys murder. So the theme of the story was showed in gothic characteristics successfully. 3.3 The gothic characteristics in the narrative way of A Rose for Emily Mostly, gothic literature is about suspense, and the suspense is mostly about murder, death or shocking ones. Because of the suspense, the gothic literature has its own characteristics: mysterious, horrible and gloomy atmosphere an