ABSOLUTE DEVOTION AND THE LIFE-AFFIRMING SACRIFICE IN WILLIAM FAULKNER'S A ROSE FOR EMILY AND D. H. LAWRENCE'S THE HORSE DEALER'S DAUGHTER

Abstract

This essay examines the nature of absolute love and sacrifice in William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily and D. H. Lawrence’s The Horse Dealer’s Daughter. Through close textual analysis, it argues that both Emily Grierson and Mabel Pervin embody a form of devotion so total that it dismantles self-preservation and social conventions, rendering them paradoxically most alive. While Emily turns inward, preserving the beloved in an eternal present through ritualized care, Mabel moves forward through self-dissolution toward an unknown future shaped by reciprocal sacrifice. Despite their different temporal orientations, both protagonists reject the limits imposed by time and mortality. The essay concludes that love’s deepest significance lies not in its moral justification or outcome, but in the total surrender it demands—an act that becomes the most life-affirming expression available to individuals.