Euphrony Strother

Character Key Number: 
37
Display Name: 
Euphrony Strother
Sort Name: 
Strother, Euphrony
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

Euphrony is briefly mentioned in Flags in the Dust as Simon's dead wife, which presumably also makes her the mother of Elnora and Caspey (300). Since Elnora is described by the narrator as a "tall mulatto woman" (9), it seems to follow that Euphrony must have had a sexual relationship with a white man, but this novel makes no attempt to explore that issue. On the other hand, in "There Was a Queen" Elnora's mother is not named, but her (white) father is identified as Colonel John Sartoris. Again, however, no more is said about that. But the story here, about how sex and family cross the lines between white and black and master and slave, is one Faulkner will return to.