Dickinson’s Divergency: A Poetry Study

By Arya Utsa Varma

Posted on November 1, 2024

Cover Image Title: Life of tree

Cover Image by: Kai

Size: 4000 pixels x 3000 pixels

Classification: Photograph

Year: 2024

In a small room in Amherst, Massachusetts, a quiet, reclusive woman penned some of the most haunting and revolutionary poetry the world has ever known. Emily Dickinson, often dismissed as an eccentric spinster during her lifetime, wielded her pen with the precision of a surgeon, challenging the literary conventions of her time. Notoriously enigmatic, Dickinson wrote solely poems and letters prior to her death in 1886 - most of which she never published. Her literature typically detailed her diverging views on civilization, and often her mental state, too. Dickinson was ultimately led to reject society as a result of her alienation and identity as a woman.

In fact, Emily Dickinson’s identity as a woman was what led to her neglect and isolation from society overall. In her poem, This Is My Letter To The World, she writes: 

“This is my letter to the World

That never wrote to Me

The simple News that Nature told

With tender Majesty

…

For love of Her, sweet countrymen

Judge tenderly, of Me.” 

(This is My Letter to the World, Emily Dickinson, lines 1-4, 7-8)

The poem begins solemnly, the first line conveying a strong sense of finality. Dickinson continued by stating that the world “never wrote” to her or acknowledged her, that she was neglected by it rather than welcomed. The third line refers to a universal sentiment that she saw everywhere - yet, the nature of this sentiment is not revealed until the end of the poem. In the verse’s final lines, it is made apparent that this sentiment is judgement—specifically, from the men in her society, referred to as “countrymen.” To escape the harsh scrutiny that she constantly faced, Dickinson made a plea to these men for kindness in this line. Yet, it is unlikely that this plea was answered, as the poem was written in 1862, an era when women in America did not have the right to own property, make contracts, or vote. Dickinson understandably felt overlooked in a society that dehumanized her. She was burdened by the judgement she faced as a woman and was shunned from the public world. Dickinson yearned to be accepted, even going so far as to plead for it: the social hierarchy that she was born into denied her this right. This resulted in her alienation from the world around her, rendering her an outsider.

Dickinson then actively rejected the social and religious confines that had been forcibly placed upon her. The first stanza of her work I’m Ceded - I’ve Stopped Being Theirs reads: 

“I'm ceded– I've stopped being Theirs

The name They dropped upon my face

With water, in the country church

Is finished using, nowAnd They can put it with my DollsMy childhood, and the string of spools

I've finished threading too.” 

(I’m ceded - I’ve stopped being Theirs, Emily Dickinson, lines 1-7)

Rather than her ceding something, Dickinson immediately stated that it is she who had been ceded - likely referring to her alienation. She continued by saying that she no longer belonged to the outside world, a ubiquitous “Them.” Dickinson then referenced her baptism as an infant, the words “dropped upon my face” conveying a sense of choicelessness on her part. However, she went on to renounce these ideals, stating that it is “finished using” and that she had outgrown them and left them in the past. Now, they fell into the same category as her childhood dolls and playthings. Emily Dickinson was named after her mother, whom she had a turbulent relationship with later in life. It is possible that, due in part to this, she felt burdened with her mother’s legacy. Additionally, she felt confined both religiously and personally by her unconsented baptism as an infant and the expectations that it entailed. However, by consciously abandoning these constraints and leaving them behind, Dickinson maintained her identity as her own, rather than belonging to others. Dickinson’s rejection of the standards placed upon her ties back to the theme of individualism that appeared often in her work.

Likewise, Dickinson emphasized the power and independence of women in society. In the final stanzas of the same poem, she writes: 

“Baptized, before, without the choice

But this time, consciously, of Grace

…

My second Rank– too small the first

Crowned– Crowing– on my Father's breast

A half unconscious Queen

But this time– Adequate– Erect

With Will to choose, or to reject

And I choose– just a Crown.” 

(I’m ceded - I’ve stopped being Theirs, Emily Dickinson, lines 8-9, 14-19)

Now, Dickinson’s writing takes on a new tone—one of reclamation. She baptized herself a second time, this time by choice and with will. These lines take on a recollective energy as she compared her choiceless baptism with her intentional one. She described her young self as a “half-unconscious Queen”, though she had, technically, been spiritually elevated due to her baptism, she had no say in the matter, rendering her absent and powerless. However, now, she was present, and had the freedom to choose or reject every aspect of her identity: and she chose “just a Crown”, which is representative of power. Gender roles for women in society often strip them of their autonomy, some examples being the monarchical systems referenced in the text and even traditional Christian marriages. Dickinson referenced her earlier relationship with religion as one in which she had no power, especially as a woman. However, by re-baptizing herself and asserting her position as a ‘monarch’ - one that is present, with full autonomy, Dickinson stressed that sovereignty is an inseparable right, especially for women. Dickinson reclaimed the power that was taken from her, and defined her own identity as she chose, regardless of the society that tried to strip her of that independence.

Dickinson ultimately renounced society and its constructs as a whole, instead opting to live life on her own terms. Her poem The Soul Selects Her Own Society reads: 

"The Soul selects her own Society

Then, shuts the Door

To her divine Majority

Present no more

Unmoved, she notes the Chariots pausing

At her low Gate

Unmoved, an Emperor be kneeling

Upon her Mat.” 

(The Soul Selects her own Society, Emily Dickinson, page 1180, lines 1-8)

Dickinson did away with the outside world, instead choosing exactly which people she wished to interact with - in other words, she was ‘selecting her own society’, and was no longer available to the “majority” that constituted the public. Now that Dickinson had renounced society, she was not swayed by material treasures (symbolized by an emperor at her mat and chariots at her gates), despite the pervasiveness of the materialistic American culture and its value for wealth and fame. This idea fits with her recorded distaste for publishing her work, and her refusal to move out of her childhood home and interact with others. Society, as generally viewed, is inherently public, and something each person must adapt and fit into in order to function with the rest of humanity. However, Dickinson scorned this entire idea, in active rebellion against the external dogmatism she faced; something essentially unheard of by conventional writing standards at the time. By creating her own society, Dickinson also rejected any societal constructs that she would have to conform to. Dickinson’s internal disposal of the rigid social structure of the 1800s challenged the hierarchies and social norms that were already in place. Rather than changing herself to fit in with the rest of civilization, she internalized her power and lived life on her own terms - subsequently, she could not have been controlled by anyone else. As a result of her alienation from the public world, largely due to her identity as a woman, and her strong individualist beliefs, Dickinson was led to outright rejection of society and its norms.

Dickinson’s eschewal of society strongly ties back to the themes of self-reliance, non-conformity, and introversion that she so often wrote about. As a 19th century American woman, she grappled with the world around her. She published only 10 of the estimated 1,800 poems she wrote during her lifetime, and was disgusted by the changes made to her work by editors and publishers. It was likely that her verse was considered too radical by conventional writing standards of the time - standards that Dickinson worked hard to break. However, the conformist and reductive society that Dickinson struggled against was not left in the 19th century. Today, we live in a world full of insurmountable feminine standards perpetuated by social media and the cosmetics industry. In our world, we are taught to conform to a soul-sucking 9-5 job, taught to “go with the crowd”, and discouraged from thinking in a non-linear fashion. Quick and harsh judgement renders cancel culture supreme, alienating anyone who dares step out of line. While it wears a mask of modernity and progress, today’s society at its core is still restrictive, misogynistic, and venomous. Dickinson was certainly not the first ideological revolutionary to break societal rules; however, in order to maintain our own identity and sovereignty as individuals, we must ensure that she is not the last, either.

Works Cited

“1830-1855: Childhood and Youth – Emily Dickinson Museum.” Emilydickinsonmuseum.org, 2019, www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/emily-dickinson/biography/emily-dickinson-her-childhood-and-youth-1830-1855/.

“Emily Dickinson - “This Is My Letter to the World.”” Www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org, www.brinkerhoffpoetry.org/poems/this-is-my-letter-to-the-world.

Ferguson, Margaret W, et al. The Norton Anthology of Poetry. Sixth ed., New York, Ny, W. W. Norton & Company, 2018, pp. 644–661.

Habegger, Alfred. “Emily Dickinson | Biography, Poems, & Analysis.” Encyclopædia Britannica, 31 Jan. 2019, www.britannica.com/biography/Emily-Dickinson.

https://www.facebook.com/thoughtcodotcom. “Emily Dickinson’s Mother, Emily Norcross.” ThoughtCo, 2019, www.thoughtco.com/emily-dickinsons-mother-735144.

“I’m Ceded – I’ve Stopped Being Their’s (F353A, J508) – White Heat.” Journeys.dartmouth.edu, journeys.dartmouth.edu/whiteheat/im-ceded-ive-stopped-being-theirs-f353a-j508/.

“Social Media and Body Image: What’s the Link?” Psych Central, 27 Feb. 2023, psychcentral.com/health/how-the-media-affects-body-image#:~:text=on%20body%20image-.

Vogels, Emily A., et al. “Americans and “Cancel Culture”: Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship, Punishment.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech, Pew Research Center, 19 May 2021, www.pewresearch.org/internet/2021/05/19/americans-and-cancel-culture-where-some-see-calls-for-accountability-others-see-censorship-punishment/.

Wiesner, Cody. “Editing Emily Dickinson: Or, How to Proofread the Soul out of a Poet.” Curious, 14 Oct. 2020, medium.com/curious/editing-emily-dickinson-or-how-to-proofread-the-soul-out-of-a-poet-8c47146bddff. Accessed 17 Apr. 2023.

“Workday Shift: Is 9-5 Working Obsolete?” Business.com, www.business.com/articles/the-death-of-the-workday-is-9-to-5-working-obsolete/.

Editor's Note:

The Writer provides a comprehensive analysis of the life, impact, and legacy of Emily Dickinson, a 19th century American poet. Little known during her life, and yet one of the most significant figures of American poetry to date, this piece explores how her struggles led to her subsequent renunciation of many societal ideals placed upon her, and how this all contributes to her overarching legacy as an "ideological revolutionary."

[Writing Editor: Paul A. Shannon]

[The End]