This paper deals with a new nonconforming anisotropic rectangular finite element approximation for the planar elasticity problem with pure displacement boundary condition. By use of the special properties of this element, and by introducing the complementary space and a series of novel techniques, the optimal error estimates of the energy norm and the L^2-norm are obtained. The restrictions of regularity assumption and quasi-uniform assumption or the inverse assumption on the meshes required in the conventional finite element methods analysis are to be got rid of and the applicable scope of the nonconforming finite elements is extended.
