Tableau- A graphic depiction or representation

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tableau

“None of the young men were quite good enough for Miss Emily and such. We had long thought of them as a tableau, Miss Emily a slender figure in white in the background, her father a spraddled silhouette in the foreground, his back to her and clutching a horsewhip, the two of them framed by the back-flung front door. So when she got to be thirty and was still single, we were not pleased exactly, but vindicated; even with insanity in the family she wouldn’t have turned down all of her chances if they had really materialized.” -A Rose for Emily

The word falls in line with the dark themes found in the story through the use of negative descriptions and imagery. The story describes Emily’s character in detail based on an outsiders view, allowing the reader to see what the narrators say. The tone is set thanks to this information that is learned, hence why the word lends itself so nicely with this passage.