CompsonsInRAI

This is the second Unvanquished story in which "Mrs. Compson" is mentioned or appears. Again her role is minor, but again the fact that Colonel Sartoris' mother-in-law, Miss Rosa Millard, turns to her to borrow a hat, a "parasol" and a "hand mirror" (37) - essential elements in establishing or maintaining one's status as a 'lady' - makes clear the Compson's family aristocratic standing, even amid the ruins of the Civil War. "Mrs. Compson" plays that role consistently throughout these stories, but it's less clear which "Mrs. Compson" Faulkner is thinking of in each of them. In this tale, as in two of the three others, it's almost certain that she is the wife of the General who, like Rosa's son-in-law, is off fighting the Yankees.