Abstract
Narcissa Benbow is a central character in three of Faulkner’s works: two novels — Flags in the Dust (published in 1974, but written in 1927) and Sanctuary (1931) — and a short story, ‘There Was a Queen’, (1933). The history of Narcissa Benbow begins in overt serenity and moves through passion, fulfilment and frustration to perversity. The tragedy of Narcissa Benbow lies in her increasingly narrow and ultimately twisted sense of what it is to love.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
William Faulkner, Put Out More Flags (New York: Vintage Books, 1974) p. 31. Parenthesised page numbers are from this edition.
Faulkner, Sanctuary (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1972). Parenthesised page numbers are from this edition.
Faulkner, ‘There Was a Queen’, in Dr. Martino and Other Stories (London: Chatto & Windus, 1958) pp. 219–20. Parenthesised page numbers are from this edition.
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 1990 Ann Massa
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Young, T.D. (1990). Narcissa Benbow’s Strange Love/s: William Faulkner. In: Massa, A. (eds) American Declarations of Love. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20435-9_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-20435-9_6
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-20437-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-349-20435-9
eBook Packages: Palgrave Literature & Performing Arts CollectionLiterature, Cultural and Media Studies (R0)