Psychoanalytic Criticism of A Rose for Emily

A Rose for Emily is a sad story about a woman who struggles with being unable to cope with the death of her father and being a lonely woman. It is broken into 5 sections in which in each part the narrator shifts the point of view. In section 1 the story starts off at Miss Emily’s funeral. The funeral is taking place at her home and many people come to pay their respects and also are curious to see the inside of the house. No one had seen the inside of the house besides the manservant for 10 years. Throughout the story we see the struggles a woman has with loneliness, depression and even necrophilia. Miss Emily’s character has many mental problems. Her biggest problem that we see her …show more content…

Homer’s body was decayed and only the bones were left. There was evidence that she would lay beside him at night. She killed him because she was fearful of abandonment. In a way I think she thought she would always have him by killing him then leaving his body up stairs so she could lay with him until she died. We can look at how she treated death of her father and Homer as denial but it can also be looked at, as she feared abandonment as well. Growing up her father was very strict with her. She wasn’t allowed to date any man. Her father was extremely controlling over almost every part of her life. So when her father passed she didn’t want to admit it to herself because he was all she had as for as close family goes. I think she needed that controlling figure in her life. It’s obvious that she liked Homer and maybe she was scared he would leave her so she killed him. By doing that she would have him forever. Her love for Homer may have come due to the fact that she was like her dad. Even though her dad was controlling of her she had loved him dearly. She was longing for that controlling figure and that is why she fell for Homer. The narrator describes him as a “mans man”. (pg 152) His controlling tendencies were clear when he was seen cussing at the people he was over at work. Through out this story we see Miss Emily struggle with the inner demons of denial and fear of abandonment. I