An Analysis of the Gothic Heroine Emily in A Rose for Emily_英语论文

摘要

《献给艾米莉的玫瑰》是福克纳短篇小说的代表作，也是一篇典型的哥特式小说。 在这篇小说中，作者运用了大量的哥特式写作手法，描述了主人公艾米莉如何从一位高贵的贵族小姐变成了一个行事怪诞而且冷漠的谋杀者。本文从哥特式角度入手从三个方面分析主人公艾米莉。第一，艾米莉怪诞的人物形象。由于常年生活在封闭的状态，她逃避现实并幻想自己处在另一个空间，成了一个游走于现实与幻觉之间的孤魂。其次，她与父亲和爱人的不正常关系。由于缺乏母爱和父亲的专横控制，她失去了与外界交流的权利，并因过度依赖父爱，形成了恋父情结；而当她爱上一个与自己有着完全不同价值观并向往自由生活的北方佬荷默时，他们之间的关系完全错位，也注定了这段感情的失败。最后是艾米莉的死亡--她心理上的死亡以及身体上的寿终正寝。本文揭示了美国旧南方的价值观和传统观对当时人们的深刻的而痛苦的影响，以及它对人性的摧残和束缚。

关键词：威廉·福克纳；《献给艾米莉的玫瑰》；哥特式；艾米莉；美国南方

Abstract

A Rose for Emily, a typical Gothic novel, is the representative short story of William Faulkner. Through a large number of Gothic writing techniques, Faulkner mainly tells the story of the heroine Emily, especially how she turned from an aristocratic noble girl into a weird and cold murder. This thesis analyzes the protagonist Emily from the Gothic perspective in three aspects. Firstly, Emily’s weird character is analyzed. As she lived in a closed state for a long time, Emily could not coexist with the reality. Therefore she chose to escape, imagining herself living in another space. As a result, she became a lonely soul wandering between reality and illusion. Secondly, this paper analyzes her abnormal relationships with her father and her lover due to lack of mother love and firm control of her father. Under such circumstances, Emily lost her right to communicate with the outside. What’s worse, over-dependence on her father resulted in Emily’s Electra complex. Later, Emily fell in love with Homer, whose values were completely different from hers, which made their relationship misplaced. Finally, this paper analyzes Emily’s mental and physical death. From this prospective, the paper further explores the profound and painful effects the old traditional values of the old south had on the people, and their persecution and bondage of humanity.

Key words: William Faulkner, A Rose for Emily, Gothic, Emily, American South 

Contents

1. Introduction1

2. Demonstration2

2.1. Gothic novels and Gothic features.2

2.2. William Faulkner and the story A Rose for Emily3

2.3. Analysis of the Gothic features in Emily4

2.3.1. Emily’s weird character--a lonely soul wandering between reality and illusion4

2.3.2. Emily’s abnormal relationships with others7

2.3.2.1.The relationship between Emily and her father8

2.3.2.2.The relationship between Emily and her lover10

2.3.3. Emily’s death.12

3. Conclusion14

Works Cited15

Bibliography.16