A Rose For Emily Historical Perspective Essay

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Historical Perspective of “A Rose for Emily” The setting of “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner is a key component to embodying the theme of the story. “A Rose for Emily” was written to remark the South’s idleness of their adaption to the changing ways of the United States post civil-war. Faulkner was from Oxford, Mississippi so it is no surprise that he used his hometown as the basis for the fictional town Jefferson used in this story. The story is told from the townspeople’ point of view and is focused on a southern woman named Emily Grierson whose family was once quite wealthy and how her life came to be over the years. The story takes place in Jefferson, Mississippi between the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The trifles of the setting written throughout the story create a visual concept on how people lived in the South…show more content…
Opposite to the north, where people were willingly accepting the changing times. The historical perspective of “A Rose for Emily” is the ideology of the South not being able to let go of out-dated traditions; which the author hints to throughout the passage. The simple explantion Michael Cummingtons gives when stating “Emily lived in what was once an elegant house, “decorated with cupolas and spires and scrolled balconies,” the narrator says, and “set on what had once been our most select street.” It was, in short, a house fit for an Old Southern belle. But Emily made no attempt to improve or modernize it. To do so would be to remove it from the past, where she lived.”(-cummingtonstudyguide.net, pg.2) is an example of how Faulkner unveiled the historical perspective as well as the stories’ theme. The time frame and town Emily lived in were the main motivators for her behavior. This specific quote from the passage is an example of how Emily was stuck in her ways. .
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