Discusses themes based on the journal article from Natalie Wilson,(2002), Flannery O'Connor's Corporeal Fiction Re-Materialized in the Works of Katherine Dunn, Elizabeth McCracken, and George Saunders, Exchanges 1(2), http://www.xchanges.org/xchanges_archive/xchanges/1.2/wilson.html

1. Southern Gothic Literature William Faulkner &
Flannery O’Connor

2. http://xchanges.org/xchanges_archive/xchanges/1.2/wilson.html

3. Southern Gothic Literature: Themes
Taken from the Natalie Wilson online article

4. Southern Gothic Literature: Setting
“An awareness of the past and its influence on the present” (Wilson)
• One event that seems to loom in the setting of Faulkner and
O’Connor’s literature is the South’s defeat in the Civil War, marking
the end of the South’s Antebellum lifestyle
• Mansions (representing the Antebellum South) are shown in decay
• Characters either believe they are living in the past (often alluding to
people who are dead) or identify themselves with the past and the
Antebellum tradition

6. Southern Gothic Literature: Central Conflict
Characters representing the past,
• Antebellum South (1812-1861)
• Civil War, (1861-1865)
Characters representing the present:
• Reconstruction (1865-1877)
• Civil Rights Movement (1954-1968)

7. Southern Gothic Literature: Characters
Taken from the Natalie Wilson online article

8. Southern Gothic Literature: Societal Misfit
• Historically, the Antebellum South relied on
the socio-economic structure of plantations
and the Southern aristocracy
• The social hierarchy of the Southern
aristocracy is reflected in what Natalie Wilson
terms “societal misfits”

9. Southern Aristocracy
• The Southern aristocracy was the group of families who
controlled power in the South = social, economic, and political
privileges
• To be part of the Southern aristocracy, an individual needed to
be:
• From a family established as Southern aristocrat, either through birth or
through marriage
• Therefore, marriage of children was closely guarded and scrutinized
• Preferably, a child of the aristocracy would marry another member (who
was wealthier)

10. Southern Aristocracy: Expectations for Women
• Women within the Southern aristocracy were
expected to follow what is know as the “Cult
of Domesticity”
• Between 1820 and 1860: a restructuring of
society's views towards the “proper role of
women”
• Defined by Barbara Welter as the “Cult of True
Womanhood”
• Four (4) pillars of the “Cult of True
Womanhood”: Purity, Piety, Submissiveness

11. “The Cult of True Womanhood”
• Piety: Being devout, fidelity to natural
obligations such as to parents, dutifulness in
religion
• Purity: Chastity, being modest in dress and
manner, virginal qualities
• Submissiveness: Yielding authority to others,
men held power over women, who often
could not make decisions for themselves
• Domesticity: Relegated to the house to fulfill
obligations of wife/ mother

12. Consequences of “The Cult of True Womanhood”
• Male members of the family supported female
members
• Women found themselves not allowed to work
(which was considered a demeaning status) =
dependent on male relations
• When male members of the family passed away,
women could not inherit = left to depend on
others for money and support or were left
without support and penniless

13. Gothic Portraits of the Southern Aristocracy
“Societal misfit characters”
• Although members of the Southern aristocracy lost their wealth
during or after the Civil War, many clung to their titles that
retained power and privilege
• The irony of many Southern Gothic “misfit characters” is that
they want to enjoy the privileges and status of their ancestors
although they live in a different historical period in the South (no
longer the Antebellum South with its social traditions)

14. Female Societal Misfit Characters
• Look for female characters who are aligning
themselves with the past by displaying
characteristics of the “Cult of Domesticity”
• For William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily,” Emily
Grierson seems to be trapped by the traditions of
the Antebellum South as the last Southern belle of
Jefferson, Mississippi
• For Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to
Find,” the author seems to mock the “Cult of
Domesticity” with the exaggerations found in the
grandmother’s character