Louisa Edmonds

Submitted by sfr on Thu, 2019-01-17 14:34
Character Key Number: 
166
Display Name: 
Louisa Edmonds
Sort Name: 
Edmonds, Louisa
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

In Go Down, Moses Zack Edmonds' unnamed wife dies giving birth to their son Roth; that would be around 1898. In The Reivers "Cousin Louisa" is the woman at the McCaslin-Edmonds place who takes care of Lucius' siblings when his parents go to Bay St. Louis (48). Although that happens in 1905, Louisa is probably Zack's wife, though Faulkner may have instead decided to give Zack a sister named Louisa. Since there's no sign of that sister elsewhere in the fictions, we assume that Faulkner lost track of the Edmonds family chronology and that Zack's wife and cousin Louisa are the same character. The Reivers also mentions "women and children" in its account of the people who live with Zack and his father, but only Louisa is particularized (25).

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