Caroline Compson

Caroline Compson, formerly Caroline Bascomb, married Jason Richmond Lycurgus Compson III and gave birth to Quentin, Caddy, Benjy, and Jason. Caroline seems to be a hypochondriac and is filled with self pity. After Dilsey informs her that she gave Benjy cake for his birthday, she shows no gratitude; instead, she asks “Do you want to poison him with that chap store cake . . . Is that what you are trying to do. Am I never to have one minute's peace” (60). She is also very self-conscious of marrying a man from a family with greater status than hers; she refers to her in-laws as “high and mighty people” and thinks that Benjy's retardation is punishment for “marrying a man who held himself above me (her)” (103).

Caroline is extremely dedicated to preserving her family's honor. She especially concerns herself with the sexual purity of the women in the family: she and Quentin spy on Caddy and her suitors (96), after seeing Caddy kissing a boy at age fifteen, she wore mourning all the next day (229-30). She also locks Miss Quentin in her room every night, presumably to keep her out of mischief (90).

Jason is Caroline's favorite child because “he is more Bascomb than Compson” and “has never given me (her) one moment's sorrow since I first held him in my arms I knew then that he was to be my joy and my salvation” (103).

Compsons

The Sound and the Fury
“That Evening Sun”

Hearson, Marc. “Jason Compson and the Mother Complex.” Mississippi Quarterly 53.4 (Fall 2000): 533-550.