Quentin Compson's Aunt
Character Key Number:
263
Display Name:
Quentin Compson's Aunt
Sort Name:
Compson, Aunt of Quentin
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?:
No
Biography:
Like the enigmatic aunt of (Old) Bayard Sartoris in Flags in the Dust, this aunt of Quentin Compson is hard to place on the family tree. She appears only, abruptly, in Absalom, Absalom! when Mr. Compson uses her to explain to his son Quentin something about the nature of women: this aunt - whom apparently neither of these males ever saw - is locked in what Mr. Compson calls one of those "inexplicable (to the man mind) amicable enmities" with "her nearest female kin" (156). It's possible that this aunt is a Bascomb rather than a Compson; Bascomb is Quentin's mother's maiden name.