Gina Poe
S. Hasty
Honors Sophomore English/ Block 4
14th November, 2014
Southern Gothic Romanticism is a sub-genre to Gothic Romanticism, which is yet another sub-genre of the even more vague genre Gothic Horror. In the contrary to Gothic horror, Gothic Romanticism combines fiction, horror, and Romanticism. Southern Gothic Romanticism is simply a form of Gothic romanticism that takes place in the American south- displaying distinct southern features. The southern features in which help to classify a piece as Southern Gothic Romanticism are having something bizarre or often falling apart in the town, house or farm, having a grotesque character, (A grotesque is a character that portrays both empathy and disgust.) and includes freakishness, imprisonment, violence, and/or a sense of place. Through Southern Gothic Romanticism, we can better understand southern culture and the writing styles inspired by it.
"A Rose For Emily", a tale of a very mysterious old lady by William Faulker, is a perfect display of Southern Gothic Romanticism. Miss Emily Grierson was a woman whom, after many heart-breaking happenings- such as the loss of her father and the inferred loss of her summer lover Homer Baron- isolated herself in her home and refused to pay taxes. The tax collectors struggled with her for many years until one day she died. After her death, her home was searched, and the searchers found a very disturbing scene in her spare bedroom. Emily's old town people were shocked by the extremity of what lied in the bed and all around the room. The room, decorated with monogrammed plates, veils, and black ties, held the corpse of her missing lover, Homer Baron. One can tell that she poisoned the man with the harsh poison Emily bought at the store. Perhaps the man would not marry Emily and that upset her, so she dealt with it how she felt was appropriate. However, after this bizarre revelation, one couldn't blame the man.
This story represents Southern Gothic Romanticism so well for many reasons. One of the most important things a story of this genre must contain is a bizarre happening in the house, farm, or town. The creepy scene in Emily's bedroom is most certainly a bizarre happening in the house. Also, the character Emily is a good example of a grotesque. A grotesque is a character whom is supposed to induce the contradicting feelings of both empathy and disgust. While the actions of Miss Emily Rose are quite appalling, the reader still manages to have a respected amount of empathy for her. Emily endured pain her whole life- losing her father, and being lonely for a large majority of her life. The reasons for feeling empathy for the character help to make Emily more human- more relatable to the normal person. While murder (and not even to mention keeping the corpse in your house while it decays) is quite frankly an offense only even thought of by the mentally disturbed, the empathetic feeling to the reader allows for rationalization of her disturbance. There is not a genre that fits this piece better than Southern Gothic Romanticism.
Another good display of Southern Gothic Romanticism is "A Life You Save May Be Your Own" by Flannery O'Connor. This story is about a man, Mr. Shiflet, who helps an old woman fix up her house in return for the right to stay at her home. He fixes her roof, her shed, and an old car that was the woman's late husband's car. Mr. Shiflet ends up teaching the woman's deaf daughter to say the word "bird". When the woman sees him teaching her daughter the word, she convinces him to marry her. The man finds it only respectable to wait until he has money to pay to take the girl out after their marriage, so he is hesitant to get married to her. The woman is so desperate to marry her daughter out to he she thinks is a wonderful man, she offers to pay for her daughter and Mr. Shiflet to spend a weekend together. The man agrees to these terms, and marries her daughter. Despite the old woman's tears and the man's dissatisfaction of the marriage, Mr. Shiflet leaves with his newly married wife. During their long drive, Mr. Shiflet decides to stop at a diner and order the girl some food. The girl is very tired and instead of leaving the diner with her, he leaves her sleeping at the counter- and doesn't come back for her. It is to be implied that Mr. Shiflet just used the woman and her daughter for the money he got.
While reading this story, there are many aspects of Southern Gothic Romanticism which one can see. In the woman's house and property there were many structural things often falling apart- one of the huge signs of Southern Gothic Romanticism. Also, the reader is led to think Mr. Shiflet is a good man through his hard work and orally expressed morals. However, after leaving the girl at the diner, we see a whole other side of him that fills our minds with disgust. This element of the man allows for us to define Mr. Shiftlet as a grotesque - the most distinct Southern Gothic Romantic feature. Most obviously taking place in the south, this story fits Southern Gothic Romanticism well.
No comments:
Post a Comment