Critical Response to "A Rose For Emily"

Meanings for the Rose

Some readers might find the title of Faulker’s story, “A Rose for Emily,” ironic. As a Symbol, the rose generally signifies romantic love. According to “Flowerpedia,” a website created to inform flower enthusiasts of historical and cultural connotations associated with flowers, “roses are among the most admired and evocative of flowers.” Red roses, in particular, “are the traditional symbol for love and romance, and a time-honored way to say I love you." The color red holds significance; historically it is a “symbol for life” and a “metaphor for deep emotion.” The red rose can also be seen as a religious symbol; “In Greek and Roman mythology the red rose was closely tied to the goddess of love.” The rose further embodies love, or an everlasting love, due to its prevalent use in wedding ceremonies.

Assuming that Faulker is well aware of the rose’s symbolic meanings, why does he choose to name his story about an ill-fated and perverse love affair, “A Rose for Emily?” One possible reason Faulkner may have chosen this perplexing title is to present an ironic portrayal of the rose’s intended: the female lover. By calling the story “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner causes the reader to assume this is a typical love story. Faulkner then overturns the reader’s expectations by offering an atypical heroine. Generally love stories involve a young woman, pure and beautiful, worthy of receiving love. In this story, however, the heroine is old and decrepit. The narrator explains, “She looked bloated, like a body long submerged in motionless water, and of that pallid hue” (468). Not simply unattractive, Emily also is considered an “old maid” by the townsfolk. For example, the narrator mentions how the town noticed she “got to be thirty and was still single” and how they considered her “left alone, and a pauper” following her father’s death (470). Due to her unfortunate looks and even more unfortunate fortune, Emily is portrayed as an object of the town’s pity.

In his story, Faulkner not only employs irony in creating its heroine, but also in revealing the type of love she experiences. Not until the story’s climactic ending does the reader discover with whom Emily “shares her rose” or her love. Roses, which typically symbolize an everlasting love, are appropriate for Emily considering how she has loved her fiancé, Homer Barron. When the townsfolk enter Emily’s house, they find a secret room, one that is both “furnished as for a bridal” and one that contains “A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb” (473). Here, Faulkner’s vision of everlasting love is first realized: marriage and death exist entwined. Faulkner, however, does not end here. He then goes on to show the true nature of Emily’s love, an everlasting love that endures after death. By situating the lover’s corpse next to “a long strand of iron-gray hair” belonging to Emily, Faulkner offers a situational irony: love, for Emily, flourishes only after her lover is deceased.