County of quote: Lafayette County
Location of quaote: 1 Courthouse Square, side of courthouse, Oxford
Date plaque erected: 1983
Erected by Yoknapatawpha Art Council & Mississippi Arts Commission
Plaque Text:
But above all, the courthouse: the center, the focus, the hub; sitting looming in the center of the county's
circumference like a single cloud in its ring of horizon,
laying its vast shadow to the uttermost rim of horizon; musing, brooding, symbolic and ponderable, tall as cloud,
solid as rock, dominating all: protector of the weak, judiciate and curb of the passions and lusts, repository
and guardian of the aspirations and hopes....
WILLIAM FAULKNER
Requiem For A Nun, 1951
YOKNAPATAWPHA ARTS COUNCIL
Mississippi Arts Commission
1983
Requiem For A Nun is a sequel to his earlier novel Sanctuary, Requiem for a Nun takes up the story of Temple Drake eight years after her adventures with Popeye in Sanctuary. Now married to Gowan Stevens, Temple must try to save the life of Nancy, a nurse accused of the murder of Temple and Gowan's child. Most of the novel is told as a play, but each of the three acts begins with a introductory prose essay that recounts revealing background about the history of Mississippi, Yoknapatawpha County, and how that past affects the present.
"In Jefferson, Mississippi, Nancy Mannigoe, who was formerly employed as a nursemaid by Temple Drake Stevens (Mrs. Gowan Stevens), is found guilty of the murder of Temple's six-month-old daughter and sentenced to death. Eight years earlier, as described in Sanctuary, Temple fell into the hands of a gang of violent bootleggers and was raped and imprisoned in a brothel through the drunken irresponsibility of her escort, Gowan Stevens. Afterwards, Gowan married Temple out of a sense of honor and responsibility, and they had two children. The Stevenses have resumed their place in the respectable, well-to-do society of the county, and appear to have a normal life, but their marriage is strained by Temple's past and the unspoken idea that on some level, she enjoyed or got some excitement from her brothel experience. Temple hired Nancy, a black drug addict and occasional prostitute, in order to have someone to talk to who understood her.
"Gowan's uncle Gavin Stevens, who is serving as Nancy's defense attorney, believes Temple is withholding information about her daughter's death, and confronts Temple outside the presence of her husband Gowan. Temple indicates that there were reasons why Nancy killed the baby, and that Nancy was neither mentally ill nor malicious, but avoids revealing any more information, instead going on an extended trip to California.
"Several months later, a week before Nancy's scheduled execution, Temple returns to Jefferson and contacts Gavin. After drugging her husband Gowan with a sleeping pill so he will not overhear the conversation, Temple confesses to Gavin that although Nancy did kill the baby, Temple herself also had a hand in the killing and wants to stop Nancy's execution. Gavin urges her to appeal directly to the state governor, although it may be too late to save Nancy. Unbeknownst to Nancy or Gavin, Gowan has overheard the entire conversation.
"The day before Nancy's execution, Temple goes to the state capitol, Jackson, Mississippi, and confesses to the governor that prior to her baby's killing, she had planned to abandon her husband and family and run away with Pete, the younger brother of her former lover Red. As described in Sanctuary, Temple as a 17-year-old virgin was brutally raped with a corncob by the impotent gangster Popeye, who then forced her repeatedly to have sex with Red while he watched. Temple began to fall in love with Red, causing the jealous Popeye to murder him. After being rescued, Temple falsely accused another man, Goodwin, of being her rapist, causing Goodwin to be lynched by an angry mob. Before Red's murder, Temple had written him explicit love letters, which were later found by his brother Pete, who used them to blackmail Temple. Temple found herself attracted to Pete and planned not only to give him a large sum of money, but also to elope with him. Upon learning that Temple was about to leave with Pete, Nancy attempted to stop her by smothering her baby daughter, an act that will also cost Nancy her own life as well, which Nancy is willing to sacrifice.
"The governor has already refused to grant clemency for Nancy. Although Temple believes she is confessing to the governor, he has left his office and Temple's husband Gowan is sitting in his chair, which Temple realizes only after she has finished telling her story. Gowan tells Temple he too is sorry for his part in triggering the chain of events that happened eight years ago, but that the past is unchangeable and over. Temple worries about the salvation of her own soul.
"On the morning of Nancy's execution, Temple and Gavin visit her in her prison cell. Temple explains that she wanted to confess to the governor that Nancy was not solely responsible for the baby's death, and that she, Temple, caused the death eight years ago by going on the date with Gowan that led to her rape and the subsequent chain of events. Now Nancy must die for smothering the baby while Temple must live with the consequences of her own actions. Nancy tells Temple to trust in God and extols the virtues of suffering." ~ Wikipedia