Abstract
William Faulkner is American famous novelist in the 20th century and the representative of South American Literature. A Rose for Emily is a masterpiece of his short stories. This essay analyses the causes of Emily’s tragic life from three aspects: patriarchal system、old American southern tradition and the weakness of Emily’s character . This essay can be divided into four parts. The first part introduces the author 、the main content of the novel and the structure of the essay; the second part is to explain the literature review; the third part intends to analyse the causes of Emily’s tragic life; the last part makes a conclusion and inspires people to think more.
Key words : patriarchal system; old tradition; weakness; tragic; causes
