Sartoris Womenfolks

Character Key Number: 
200
Display Name: 
Sartoris Womenfolks
Sort Name: 
Sartoris Womenfolks
Ever Present in Yoknapatawpha?: 
Yes
Biography: 

Other than Colonel John, the only Sartorises referred to in Absalom! are "Sartoris' womenfolks," who use their "silk dresses" to sew the regimental flag that Yoknapatawpha's Confederate volunteers carry to the Civil War (63). There is no way to know for sure which specific "womenfolks" these are; if Faulkner is being consistent with his other Yoknapatawpha fictions, this group cannot include Sartoris' wife, who died a decade before the War, but could include his mother-in-law, Rosa Millard, who lived on his plantation during the War in the Unvanquished stories, and perhaps his two young daughters, who are mentioned but not named in Flags in the Dust. It's not safe, however, to assume Faulkner is being consistent from one text to the next.