It takes place in Yoknapatawpha, Mississippi, which is Faulkner's fictional town. Jefferson is the county seat of Yoknapatawpha.
The tone, the style and the themes all kind of blend together in this story. The themes cover death, the decline of the south, and the isolation that follows both death and the decline. Death is evident in the beginning because it begins with Emily's funeral. It then flashes back to the death of her father, which she has a very hard time dealing with--she doesn't let them come get her dead father for a couple days. Then at the end we find that she killed Homer. The decline of the south flows back and forth with the decline of Emily. Her condition worsens as she ages, both with her father's death and with the fact that she can't "have" Homer for herself. (until she kills him) The isolation occurs because of her criminal act of murder. Emily won't have anyone near her and she never is close to family.
Because of these themes, the tone allows the reader to see some humor in Emily and we almost admire her for pulling off the murder. It is also somewhat depressing because of how pitiful and isolated she is.
An example of irony is in the title. A rose is something that should represent love and endearment. There was no love for Emily. She had to kill to keep a lover with her.
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