Robbing The Mother

William Faulkner claimed that it may be necessary for a writer to "e;rob his mother,"e; should the need arise. "e;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,"e; 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. "e;My reading of Faulkner,"e; the author says, "e;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."e; 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.