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Published in 1930, A Rose for Emily written by American writer William Faulkner is a representative work of gothic fiction of America. It is one of the most widely read novel among William Faulkner’s short stories. The story takes place in a mythical town called Jefferson, Mississippi. The story describes the tragic life of Emily under the South's failure in the Civil War. Emily’s life is strongly dominated by her father who has serious patriarchal tendencies. When Emily is young, her father drives away all the men who have affection for her in order to guard dignity and pride of his family called Grierson which belongs to the upper class in the south of the United States. Therefore, Emily has no right to date with males and choose her lover. After her father’s death, she falls in love with a northern worker named Homer. To her depression, Homer has no idea of marriage. She poisons Homer to maintain her face. After that, she spend the rest of her life with a surname and a body. After Emily's death, the town people discovers a skeleton in the house, and find out the amazing secret: Homer is murdered by Emily. Short as it is, the story explores the inner struggle in the human heart. It is a murder story with elements of Gothic literature. The gothic characteristics are reflected in this novel and the writer can express his feeling and the theme precisely by using gothic complex. Therefore, A Rose for Emily is an access to learn about Faulkner’s works and gothic fiction.
II. The Development of Gothic Fiction in American Literature
2.1 The Definition of Gothic Fiction
The word “Goth” came from the name of a Germanic tribe. The gothic people were famous for their brutal and uncivilized features. They ever lived in north Europe, then invaded the Roman 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 later, after the Roman 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 characterized by “tall sharp pointed, vaulted roof or tower, narrow windows, colorful glass, darkness houses, gloomy ladders.” (Xiao Minghan, Criticism of Foreign Literature, 9) The gothic architecture was originated in France in the 11th century, and it was popular in Europe from the 13th century to the 15th century. It is in the great churches and cathedrals and in a number of civic buildings that the Gothic style is expressed most powerfully, its characteristics lending themselves to appeal to emotions. The gothic architecture enjoys a high status in the history of architecture 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.