Comparing the Family in Antigone and A Rose for Emily

994 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Faulkner's A Rose for Emily deeper meaning

Importance of Family in Antigone and A Rose for Emily

As much as society tries to deny the fact that the family that one comes from determines their fate, in almost every case this very fact is true. Today, we see how infants who are born into wealthy families are treated differently than children who are born into drug and disease-stricken poverty. Higher classed people stand out in society on both a local and national level much more than the average middle class working family.

In Sophocles' play, Antigone, Antigone is unable to hide who she is, and the family she comes from determines the way she is treated among her peoples. Likewise, in William Faulkner's, A Rose for Emily, a woman who was forever protected by her father and was never given the opportunity to flourish on her own, becomes a hermit to her own society. The family she was born into created barriers that she could not overcome. Birthright is the driving force that both Antigone and Emily face in their stories, and the authors, Sophocles and Faulkner both use this concept to convey a strong message.

Antigone is a young woman whose moral background leads her to go against the wishes of the king to bury her brother, Polyneices. Sophocles uses Antigone as a character who undergoes an irreversible change in judgment and as a result, ends up dying. Antigone is hero, and she stands for honor, and divinity. Because Antigone's parents were Oedipus and Iacaste, she was born into a family of power; something that she could not change. At times, Sophocles leads the reader into thinking Antigone wishes she was not who she was. Ismene, Antigone's sister, refuses to help Antigone because (as she states) "I have no strength to break laws that wer...

... middle of paper ...

...rmine the right of a character. In Antigone, Antigone uses the power of her family name to go against the wish of the King in order to simply give her brother a proper burial. In A Rose for Emily, William Faulkner shows the vast influence a father can have on his daughter. Even though he is dead, his strong dominating presence is still very much alive in Emily. The topic of birthright in both stories is apparent in that Antigone goes against the common way only because of who she is, and Emily hides herself from society because she does not know any other way to live.

Faulkner, William. A Rose for Emily. Taken from Abcarian and Koltz, "Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience." St. Martins Press. 1998.

Sophocles. Antigone. Taken from Abcarian and Koltz, "Literature: Reading and Writing the Human Experience." St. Martins Press. 1998.

Show More
Related

  • The Fascination with the Upper Class in “A&P” and “A Rose for Emily” (A Marxist Perspective)

    1245 Words  | 3 Pages

    “A&P” by John Updike and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner both explore class conflict and the problems that arise from it. In “A&P”, Sammy, the narrator, comments on a girl that he calls Queenie, who is more upper class, while he works at the A&P grocery store. Updike suggests that those with money have more freedom than those without. In “A Rose For Emily”, the entire town watches Emily as she falls deeper and deeper into mental illness. Here, Faulkner seems to suggest that those with money have less freedom. In “A&P”, Updike suggests that members of the middle class have a particular fascination with the rich, which ultimately leads to their demise. In “A Rose for Emily”, Faulkner also suggests that members of the middle class have a particular fascination with the rich, but that this ultimately leads to the demise of those in the upper class. This is evident in point of view, tone, and symbolism in “A&P” and “A Rose for Emily”.

    Read More

  • Oh Who Will Protect Poor Emily?

    1038 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”, there is a constant theme of protection for Emily Grierson, because she was a woman living in the south after the civil war and the requirements that were placed on women enable to be honorable. That is to say that, women needed to be protected by the men of the community during that time in history and women’s actions were constantly under watch to see if a woman was honorable and worthy of protection or not. Within the story, there are many instances in which this is shown. Faulkner also shows the reader a gender split between the men and women and how they felt towards Emily.

    Read More

  • Faulkner's A Rose for Emely and Kate Chopin's Story of an Hour

    1034 Words  | 3 Pages

    Faulkner, William. “A Rose for Emily.” Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. Ed. X. J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. 12th ed. New York: Pearson, 2013. 549-51. Print.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast A Rose For Emily And The Tell-Tale Heart

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “The Tell-Tale Heart” by Edgar Allan Poe and “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner both main characters are portrayed as irrational and are isolated from reality. The narrator in “The Tell-Tale Heart” murders an elderly man, as he is fearful of the man’s eye. Emily Grierson in “A Rose for Emily” lives secluded from society, until she marries a man, Homer. She ultimately kills Homer in his bed and leaves his body to decompose for many years. Both the narrator in Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart” and Emily Grierson in William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” deny reality so vehemently that they isolate themselves from reality. Their isolation and denial of reality cause both to commit murder.

    Read More

  • William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily : Her Father is to Blame

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily tells a story of a young woman who is violated by her father’s strict mentality. After being the only man in her life Emily’s father dies and she finds it hard to let go. Like her father Emily possesses a stubborn outlook towards life, and she refused to change. While having this attitude about life Emily practically secluded herself from society for the remainder of her life. She was alone for the very first time and her reaction to this situation was solitude.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In William Faulkner's Barbie Doll

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    In William Faulkner story “A Rose for Emily” has many subtle details that reveal that woman being treated as a lesser and with injustice has always happened and throughout the telling of Miss Emily Grierson’s life, you get a good look at it. For instance, the narrator reveals that “the town remembers all the young men her father had driven away” (Faulkner 732). This gives us insight into the way the female has long

    Read More

  • Comparison of Kate Chopin's Story of an Hour and William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Faulkner, William. “A Rose For Emily.” An Introduction to Fiction. 10th ed. Eds: X.J. Kennedy and Dana Gioia. New Yorkk: Pearson Longman, 2007. 29-34.

    Read More

  • Trailblazing Tragedy In Antigone

    820 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the play Antigone, Sophocles proves to be trailblazing playwright because of Antigone’s role as a defiant woman, Antigone’s rebellion against Creon’s law, and Haemon’s fight for her liberty. Antigone sets high morals for herself and by these actions, proves her point to the King. Creon displays his aggressive and misogynistic views to Antigone, threatening to take her life if she does not obey him. In return, Antigone shows she and Ismene deserve the right to bury their brother Polynices; she stands strong in the face of death, knowing that the gods’ words were greater than a mere king’s. Sophocles is thus proven as a trailblazing playwright because of how he takes the role a woman and uses her to emphasize women’s power and authority in

    Read More

  • Stand Up For Your Beliefs

    966 Words  | 2 Pages

    Antigone risks her own life to bury her brother, therefore, she goes against Kreon’s edict that Polyneices should be left unburied; she believes Polyneices deserves to reach the afterlife. Antigone tells Ismene, “I will bury him myself. If I die for doing that, good: I will stay with him, my brother; and my crime will be devotion” (Sophocles 23). Antigone is willing to risk her own life by disobeying the king’s authority; She stands up for her religious belief that Polyneices should be buried. Kreon tells Antigone before she takes her own life, “I won’t encourage you. You’ve been condemned” (Sophocles 57). Kreon believes that Antigone’s crime is severe, and righteousness should be used to justify her crime. At this point of the play, Antigone realizes she will be put to death, but she does not regret her act of loyalty. In Antigone’s last speech before she takes her own life, she exclaims, “Land of Thebes, city of my fathers… see what I suffer at my mother’s brother’s hand for an act of loyalty and devotion” (Sophocles 57). Here, Antigone addresses the nation’s leaders and declares that they should notice th...

    Read More

  • Narrative Worth in A Rose for Emily

    1314 Words  | 3 Pages

    In “ A Rose for Emily”, William Faulkner tells the complex tale of a woman who is battered by time and unable to move through life after the loss of each significant male figure in her life. Unlike Disney Stories, there is no prince charming to rescue fallen princess, and her assumed misery becomes the subject of everyone in the town of Jefferson, Mississippi. As the townspeople gossip about her and develop various scenarios to account for her behaviors and the unknown details of her life, Emily Grierson serves as a scapegoat for the lower classes to validate their lives. In telling this story, Faulkner decides to take an unusual approach; he utilizes a narrator to convey the details of a first-person tale, by examining chronology, the role of the narrator and the interpretations of “A Rose for Emily”, it can be seen that this story is impossible to tell without a narrator.

    Read More

  • Personal Decolation In William Faulkner's A Rose For Emily

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    Community and culture play a large part in how a person presents them self, and how they are perceived by others. Perception is a very subjective process, and personal biases influence each person’s observations. In the short story “A Rose for Emily,” William Faulkner portrays the story of an isolated and emotionally stunted woman’s desperate attempt to not be alone as told through the eyes of the townspeople. First, Emily is isolated by her father then, after his death, by the townspeople who view her as a monument to tradition and not as a person. In Emily’s desolation, she poisons her lover, and proceeds to hide his body, in her home, for forty years. Many critics have argued Emily’s motivations for Homer’s murder. Hal Blythe reasons that her motivations were to save face within the community while retaining control over their

    Read More

  • The Importance of Plot in William Faulkner's A Rose for Emily

    1443 Words  | 3 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose for Emily." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Shorter 5th ed. Ed. R.V.Cassill. New York: W.W. Norton & Comp., 1995.

    Read More

  • Fake IDs

    592 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are different types of people who use fake ID’s for different reasons. Many people who use fake ID’s are just teenagers who want to buy alcohol. 18, 19, and 20 year olds generally use fake ID’s to drink in bars, while high school students with fakes just go to grocery stores to find beer.

    Read More

  • Faulkner's “A Rose For Emily”

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    Faulkner, William. "A Rose For Emily." The Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing. Ed. Michael Meyer. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St. Martins, 2008. 91-99. Print.

    Read More

  • Literary Elements in A Rose For Emily

    1692 Words  | 4 Pages

    In "A Rose for Emily," William Faulkner's use of setting and characterization foreshadows and builds up to the climax of the story. His use of metaphors prepares the reader for the bittersweet ending. A theme of respectability and the loss of, is threaded throughout the story. Appropriately, the story begins with death, flashes back to the past and hints towards the demise of a woman and the traditions of the past she personifies. Faulkner has carefully crafted a multi-layered masterpiece, and he uses setting, characterization, and theme to move it along.

    Read More

More about Comparing the Family in Antigone and A Rose for Emily

Open Document