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The ghostly presence of Evangeline: Faulkner's exorcism and revision of the feminine ideal.(influence of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow on novelist William Faulkner)

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From: The Mississippi Quarterly
Date: 20060622
Author:Joiner, Jennie J.

IN SEPTEMBER 1951, WILLIAM FAULKNER VISITED THE PLACE WHERE YEARS earlier Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote Tales of a Wayside Inn. Although he was offered the room where the poet stayed, Faulkner declined, saying that it would "make him nervous to sleep in Longfellow's bed" (Blotner 545). Later, finding no other accommodations, Faulkner returned to the room but was unable to sleep because "Longfellow's ghost was too much for him" (545). Despite his desire to escape Longfellow's shadow, perhaps Faulkner's nervous appreciation of Longfellow is a late clue to the mysterious title of ...

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