MENTAL ASYLUM: APPROACHING PSYCHOPATHY IN WILLIAM FAULKNER’S A ROSE FOR EMILY

Abstract

The current paper attempts to explore the character of Emily Grierson as a neurotic, mad, dementia, and flawed character, leading toward the knit and in-depth characterization in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily leading to psychological disorder which is near to mental asylum. He shows how seclusion can drive a person to insanity through Emily. A Rose for Emily explores the feminine psychology by depicting an elderly unmarried woman who refuses to accept her father’s death and preserves his body in her room for an extended period. She later murders her lover, Homer Barron, and spends four decades resting next to his corpse. Miss Emily’s mental condition can be easily identified without the need for a particularly focused reading. Similar to the characters in the narrative who are obsessed with Emily’s lifestyle characterised by solitude and deep thought, where the readers are left, contemplating the peculiar behaviour of the female protagonist. The reason why it is impossible to comprehend Miss Emily’s psychological condition and her fragmentation into conflicting personalities is due to the underlying motivation. This research examines Miss Emily’s mental condition from a psychoanalytic perspective and aims to demonstrate that upon further examination, her psychopathic traits and her profound silence do exhibit significant and coherent symptoms, leading her to mental asylum. This story also serves as a critique of a society that chose not to intervene and assist her.