REBECCA MCSWEENEY

P I C T U R E : H TT P: / / W W W. E M I LY D I C K I N S O N M U SE U M . O R G / E D / N O D E / 1 5

Emily Dickinson’s Experiences: Motivation for

her Messages

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886)

Born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts (“Emily Dickinson” 1).

Died of a liver disease on May 15, 1886 (Dommermuth-Costa 101).

Emily Dickinson’s environment, emotional trauma, and seclusion from the outside world impacts the poetic works: “She rose to his requirement, dropped,” “There’s a certain slant of light,” and “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-”, respectively.

Society’s Expectation of Females During the 1850’s

Women during the nineteenth century: Expected by society to get married and obey their husbands A woman who “remained single would attract social disapproval and pity” Had to include a promise to submit to their husband in their wedding vows (Wojtczak 1).

Emily Dickinson never married- noticed unfair treatment of wives around her (Authors and Artists 3).

Picture: http://webpage.pace.edu/nreagin/tempmotherhood/fall2003/3/HisPage.html

“She rose to his requirement, dropped,”

Dickinson wrote “She rose to his requirement, dropped,” as a result of what she observed in her society which includes a description of a woman’s transformation into marriage:

She rose to his requirement, dropped,The playthings of her life

To take the honorable workOf woman and of wife. (“She rose…” 1-4).

Married women during the nineteenth century: Had to “dropped/The playthings of her life” in order to make her

job as a housewife her top priority Fulfill “his requirement” or her husband’s expectation of her

subservience, written into the wife’s wedding vow People considered:

The role of a housewife “honorable work/Of woman”- reveals the social expectations and restrictions placed upon women, which Emily Dickinson witnessed

Familial Deaths: Emotional Pain

In the 1870’s: Father Edward Dickinson passed away Mother Emily Norcross Dickinson suffered a stroke- left her paralyzed

In the 1880’s: Emily Norcross Dickinson passed away Emily Dickinson’s nephew Edward Dickinson died of typhoid fever at the age of eight  (Authors and Artists 4). Pictures: http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2008/75/7675339_120569030871.jpg; http://image1.findagrave.com/photos250/photos/2010/316/8494123_128967198977.jpg

“There’s a certain slant of light,”

Readers notice the ongoing emotional pain caused by the loss of her relatives in Dickinson’s works, such as through the images of death in “There’s a certain slant of light,”: When it comes, the landscape listens, Shadows hold their breath; When it goes, ‘tis like the distance On the look of death. (“There’s a… 9-12)

“shadows” continue even “When it [light] comes” -represents how pain and despair persist even when positive events occur

“distance”- reveals Dickinson’s isolation from those she cared about after they passed away

Dickinson knew the “look of death” from her experiences Literary critic Michael Lake concludes how when Dickinson wrote

the poem, “Having witnessed so many deaths in her lifetime, Dickinson knew only too well the faraway look the dead often get in their glazed, open, eyes”- describes in her poetic works (Lake 1).

Society’s View of the Reclusive Dickinson

Pulled away from the outside world in later life Rumors about her reasons for isolation spread; people did not understand her decision and began to call her “The Myth of Amherst” Dickinson’s unique habits: “She never left her family’s home; she refused to see strangers; she entertained friends from half-closed doors or from the dark recessesof a stairwell; and she always wore white”

the population of Amherst considered her behavior strange (Olsen 95).

Picture: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/harriet/2013/10/emily-dickinson-haunts-the-poetry-foundation/

“Tell all the Truth but tell it slant-”

Dickinson’s feelings that no one could empathize with her shaped her view of humanity and drove her to create a metaphor comparing the truth to harsh weather, “As lightning to the children eased/ With explanation kind/ The truth must dazzle gradually…” (“Tell all…” 5-7).

Compares “lightning” to “The truth” or brutal honesty; Dickinson believes both possess the ability to harm individuals

The “children” do not want to know the harsh realities of life- represents mankind who will not willingly face reality if it causes pain for them

Dickinson felt the individuals around her- need an “explanation kind”- reflects Dickinson’s opinions of human nature, that people lack the ability to understand people’s differences The society Emily Dickinson lived in did not understand her

Works Cited

Bloom, Harold. Emily Dickinson. Broommall, PA: Chelsea House Publishers, 1999. Print.

Dickinson, Emily. Selected poems and letters of Emily Dickinson; together with Thomas Wentworth Higginson's account of his correspondence with the poet and his visit to her in Amherst.. [1st ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1959. Print.

Dickinson, Emily. Selected poems and letters of Emily Dickinson; together with Thomas Wentworth Higginson's account of his correspondence with the poet and his visit to her in Amherst.. [1st ed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1959. Print.

Dommermuth-Costa, Carol. Emily Dickinson: Singular poet. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company, 1998. Print.

“Emily Dickinson.” Authors and Artists for Young Adults. Vol. 22. Detroit: Gale, 1997. Biography in Context. Web. 6 May 2014.

“Emily Dickinson.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Wed. 6 May 2014.<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/emilydickinson>.  

Lake, Michael. “Critical Essay on ‘There’s a Certain Slant of Light.’” Poetry for Students. Ed. Mary Ruby. Vol. 6. Detroit: Gale Group, 1999. Literature Resource Center. Web. 13 May 2014.

Olsen, Victoria. Emily Dickinson. New York: Chelsea House, 1990. Print.