Faulkner S Treatment Of Women

The overview of William Faulkner‟s scholarship shows certain obvious limitations in concern to his treatment to his fictional female characters. Critics have concentrated on the male characters the outmost. The first limitation is that the critics have not paid the needed attention to his treatment of the female characters in their totality. Critics have taken up Faulkner‟s characterization but their concentration is more on the male figures only. If at all they discuss women characters, they are seen as figure only. If at all they discuss women characters, they are seen as subordinate figures to their male counterparts. The second limitation is that the bulk of Faulkner scholarship treats Faulkner‟s individual works, in these studies also the concentration is mainly on the themes and techniques, and the discussion on female characters is again scanty. Quite a few studies concentrate deeply on his individual works and explain Faulkner‟s larger themes but they, too, are specifically male oriented. The next limitation is that a large number of articles, appearing in various decades, also, cover individual aspects of Faulkner‟s themes and characters, and give only partial treatment to his women characters. The fourth limitation is that even while discussing Faulkner as moralist the concentration is more on the male figure than the female figures. The last limitation of Faulkner scholarship is that mostly it concentrates on his craftsmanship; a large number of studies on Faulkner assess his stylistics and technique. Tracing technical aspects, thematic patterns, and stylistic devices used by him critics establish Faulkner scholarship, but are oblivion to the central thrust of women characters. Thus Faulkner scholarship treats women characters, either as secondary characters, or, at the most, in relation to their male counterparts only. They have been treated less as individuals than as common commodities; the critics have been casual in their approach towards women characters and taken them for granted. This nonchalant view may lead us to conclude that women in Faulkner are „a silent sex‟. For that a complete survey has been done as mentioned in “Introduction” of the study to trace scope on full length study in context to Faulkner‟s women characters. At times, the survey let to conclude that Faulkner himself is not projecting as pleasant pictures of women in his novels as he does in the case of male figures. In fact, Faulkner was accused of being hostile to women. At times, Faulkner may strike us as a misogynist. These points led to give a kind of impulse to start working on the women characters in Faulkner. His imaginary fictional world – Yoknapatawpha- explains the intertexuality, so sometimes the same women character in different types of roles in his novels, or shows amelioration and redemption in his other text. Keeping all these points in consideration as his indispensable women characters fascinate to study in-depth and I could got the form under the heading Faulkner’s Treatment of Women. It is a humble attempt; I do not claim it to the last word on the issue. -Dr. Vibha Manoj sharma

Through detailed analyses of individual texts, from the earliest poetry through Go Down, Moses, Singal traces Faulkner's attempt to liberate himself from the powerful and repressive Victorian culture in which he was raised by embracing the Modernist culture of the artistic avant-garde. Most important, it shows how Faulkner accommodated the conflicting demands of these two cultures by creating a set of dual identities - one, that of a Modernist author writing on the most daring and subversive issues of his day, and the other, that of a southern country gentleman loyal to the conservative mores of his community. It is in the clash between these two selves, Singal argues, that one finds the key to making sense of Faulkner.

William Faulkner claimed that it may be necessary for a writer to rob his mother, should the need arise. If a writer has to rob his mother, he will not hesitate; the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' is worth any number of old ladies, he remarked.This study of Faulkner's paradoxical attitude toward women, particularly mothers, will stimulate debate and concern, for his novels are shown here to have presented them as both a source and a threat to being and to language.My reading of Faulkner, the author says, attempts more than an identification of female stereotypes and an examination of misogyny, for Faulkner, who almost certainly feared and mistrusted women, also sees in them a mysterious, often threatening power, which is often aligned with his own creativity and the grounds of his own fiction.Drawing on both American and French feminist criticism, Robbing the Mother explores Faulkner's artistic vision through the maternal influence in such works as The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Sanctuary, Absalom, Absalom!, The Hamlet, Light in August, and The Wild Palms.

The edition makes available for the first time and in one volume Faulkner's Fox screen writings. With its essays and annotations, it also makes a valuable contribution to recent scholarship across a number of fields, including screenplay studies and film and literature, as well as to the history of Twentieth Century-Fox during Hollywood's golden age

Faulkner scholarship is one of the largest critical enterprises currently at work. Because of its size and scope, accessing that scholarship has become difficult for scholars, students, and general readers alike. This reference includes chapters on individual approaches to Faulkner studies, including archetypal, historical, biographical, feminist, and psychological criticism, among others. Each chapter is written by an expert contributor and surveys the contributions of that approach to Faulkner scholarship. The volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography and glossary of critical terms. William Faulkner is one of the most widely read and studied American writers. His works have also generated a vast body of scholarship and elicited criticism from a wide range of approaches. Because of its size, scope, and diversity, accessing that scholarship has become difficult for scholars, students, and general readers alike. This reference comprehensively overviews the present state of Faulkner studies. The volume includes chapters written by expert contributors. Each chapter defines a particular critical approach and surveys the contributions of that approach to Faulkner studies. Some of the approaches covered are archetypal, biographical, feminist, historical, and psychological, among others. The book closes with a selected, general bibliography and glossary of critical terms.

How women's studies was born--in the words of its founders.