Research Paper on:
The Sound and the Fury Novel Analysis

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Compsons, a once-esteemed Jefferson, Louisiana family. Within the rigid constraints of the Southern patriarchy that characterized Faulkners novels, the Compsons illustrate the way in which a highly respected member  of the plantation aristocracy can, through a chain of unfortunate events, orchestrate their own self-destructive fall from grace. Subdivided into four sections featuring the narration of either a Compson  family member or their insightful and plain-speaking servant, Dilsey, The Sound and the Fury lends itself well to feminist criticism, despite the fact that it is, as envisioned by the  quintessential Southern gentleman William Faulkner, one of the most patriarchal of texts. In terms of feminist criticism, The Sound and the Fury is, according to Minrose C.  Gwin, an example of "feminine economy," or "an endlessly productive force linked to womans sexuality and maternity" (239). As a feminist critic, she regards the text as a conversation  between the female reader and the male author (Gwin 239). Gwin writes, "I am listening for Faulkners feminine voices... I am attempting to read female characters in new  ways, as they themselves seem to create a tension within Faulkners art by undercutting and subverting patriarchy -- the law of the father -- by playing creatively on and within  its margins" (239). According to Gwin, in the patriarchal order Faulkner has established between father-author and daughter-reader, the only "disruption" permitted within the text is that of "a female  characters own voice" (239). The Compson family matriarch is Caroline Bascomb Compson, the Southern belle who always knew what was expected  of her - to marry well and to raise many well-bred children. She believed she had hit the marital jackpot when she wed the socially-prominent Jason Lycurgus Compson III.