Emily Dickinson was an American poet who challenged traditional rituals in both society and poetry. She creates the first person, in her to poems, to respond to society’s faults. Dickinson’s poems were published in 1890, after her death and were successful. However, if her work was published whilst she was alive society would have disapproved. Dickinson shared similar beliefs to the romantic movement, who believed in equality and individuality. The nineteenth century movement focused on philosophical ideas during the transformation in Europe and America. Key features of this movement included imagination; nature; symbolism; emotion, and self-subjectivity. They embraced freedom from rituals and believed that imagination was more superior than reason. These ideas are mirrored in Dickinson’s work, confirming romantic individualism. Romantic individualism is when an individual is self-reliant and their power has an effect on society. This term has been demonstrated in the poet’s work which explores many issues at the time. (Hughes, 1968)
Dickinson’s work confirms Romantic individualism; this is evident when she refers to her being and emotion. The romantic movement’s philosophy included imagination, escapism, individuality and spiritual reflections of nature in literature. This has been demonstrated in poem 314, (Hope is the thing with feathers). The physical attributes of hope have been demonstrated in this poem. Romantic individualism can be seen through the metaphor, ‘hope, the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul’. This symbolically represents that Dickinson wishes to escape from society’s troubles and turns to the spirituality of nature for a meaning of ‘hope’. This mirrors Dickinson’s solitude throughout her life as she rejects society. Consequently, this confirmed her idea of romantic individualism as her life depended on individuality and self-reliance (Emily Dickinson, 2015). Further, in the poem the nature of the bird symbolises hope. Dickinson explores further meanings of her inner self when referencing ‘perches in the soul (of the bird)’. Dickinson aspires to explore this freedom that the bird has. Research has suggested that poets, like Dickinson, are fascinated with the existence of birds. Poets envy their innate freedom, which contributes to a sense of mystery and the ability to escape (Paterson, 2018). Properties of romantic individualism such as emotion, inner being and individuality have also been identified in poem 340. Dickinson’s allegory of a ‘Funeral in her brain’ expresses her eccentric emotion and madness. This can be seen when she states the drums at the funeral ‘kept beating –beating… my mind was going numb’. Reference to Dickinson’s cognitive self can be demonstrated through ‘beating’. This repetition demonstrates her troubled mind caused by society making her feel ‘numb’. The adjective, ‘numb’, can be seen to represent the lack of feeling the mourners may experience at a funeral and contrasts with Dickinson’s heightened emotion. This can be seen when she states ‘I dropped down and down’, metaphorically suggesting the impact society has on her. Romantic individualism has been demonstrated coherently throughout the poem; which can be seen through emotion and pain. This ambiguous language indicates Dickinson’s immense suffering caused by society. Lastly, this poem conforms to Dark Romanticism as it is drawn to humanity’s dark psyche and spirituality. This poem implies that Dickinson watches her own funeral, which is a spiritual experience. Dickinson was a Dark Romantic who, throughout her work, explored individuality.
Furthermore, Dickinson alludes to feminism in her work. This approach is an example of romantic individualism as it explores individuality and freedom. The feminist approach is the perspective which observes gender relative to power within a social construction. Dickinson explores, in Poem 764, about a masculine figure who hunts a female deer. This metaphorically represents the inequality of women in society during the period that Dickinson lived in. It explores the risks women faced in society if they pursued freedom. Women who tried to gain power were seen as destructive in society. Dickinson states ‘my life had stood – a Loaded Gun’. This metaphor suggests that she feels threatened by this object, the ‘gun’. The object is seen to be a masculine, phallic form which may represent men who prohibit women from prospering. This can act as a reflection of Dickinson’s life as she had to write her poems in secret. This was because she was scared her father would punish her for it. Throughout this poem the ‘owner’ is seen to be a male who ‘hunt[s] the doe’. A doe is a female deer and are seen to be gentle and feminine creatures. They may represent females in society who are hunted down and punished for standing up for their rights. Consequently, many women feel obligated to remain quiet. (A Short Analysis of Emily Dickinson’s ‘My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun’, 2018) Dickinson’s use of phallic and sexual imagery can further allude to the idea that women in society are seen as sexual objects. She states further ‘such cordial light Opon the Valley glow… had let its pleasure through’. This metaphorically suggests the landscape may have erupted and opened causing the male to ‘smile’. The valley may represent the female’s genitalia which caused the male to receive pleasure. The poetic form of 764 mirrors the struggle women faced in society. This can be depicted through the use of dashes as it breaks up the sentences slowing down the pace. This may make the audience feel uncomfortable when reading it. Further examples can be depicted through the irregular rhyming which does not conform to the stereotypical rules in poetry. This may give the indication that Dickinson wants to break away from social constraints and stand up for equality, just like she breaks away from the norms of poetry. Although, there is a sense of consistency throughout the poem as all the stanzas have the same amount of lines. This may suggest that she wants to give a consistent message to society about the role of women. (Gordon, 2011)
The poet explores Romantic individualism as she mentions similar philosophies to American Transcendentalists, in her work. This movement was influenced by Romanticism and celebrated individualism, virtue of humankind and, beauty of nature. These properties confirm Romantic individualism in her work. The poem, Much Madness is divinest Sense, explores Dickinson’s individuality and how she wishes to rebel against societies norms. This causes society to view her as mad and morally incorrect. She states ‘much madness is divinest sense’. This adjective describes her madness as something delightful implying her actions should be normalised. However, society views her behaviour as ‘discerning’. These conflicting adjectives demonstrate that Dickinson breaks away from societal norms. Dickinson, throughout her adulthood, barred herself from society causing her to feel very isolated. Society viewed this behaviour as disconcerting depicting the judgmental society she lived in. She goes on to state ‘‘Tis the majority’ who view her actions with such madness demonstrating she is on her own. This confirms romantic individualism in her work as it explores individuality and identity which both, romanticism and transcendentalists share. The poem ends with referencing to the punishment she may receive which is being ‘handled with a Chain’. The capitalisation of ‘Chain’ personifies the object. This represents society who repressed Dickinson. The object symbolically represents her behaviour, which is perceived as ‘mad’, contributing to her ending up with psychiatric treatment. This was prominent during the period that Dickinson lived in. (Analysis of Much Madness is Divinest Sense by Emily Dickinson, 2018) Patients who contributed to erupting society were consequently seen as mad and would be locked up. This poem demonstrates an inconsistent message as she states she is ‘mad’ in the eyes of society. However, also states that those who are ‘demur’ are seen to be dangerous, like herself. This theme of inconsistency in the poem symbolically represents how Dickinson tries to pull away from rituals of society and explore her individuality. However, she struggles greatly in doing this. The randomised capitalisation of words throughout this poem reflect the troubled state Dickinson is currently in and she is unable to predict society reactions to her poem. (Foundation, 2018)
Lastly, Dickinson’s reference to nature confirm that her poets portray romantic individualism. This movement was fascinated with nature as they found that it encouraged renewal and purity in literature. Dickinson found that nature demonstrated many relationships and helped portray social and political issues in her work. Dickinson helped readers understand human experience. (Romanticism and nature, 2018) This can be demonstrated throughout the poem, A Narrow Fellow in the Grass. The male narrator wonders through the grass where he sees a snake. The snake, can symbolically represent Dickinson’s attitude towards males in society. The reptile can signify phallic imagery as the form is masculine. She goes on to state the snake ‘occasionally rides’. This sexual allegory represents Dickinson’s view towards males, who are sexually orientated. Further, sexual references are stated such as ‘whip lash’. This is an action males do to women to show dominance. This can represent the patriarchal society she lived in. Dickinson states that there are ‘several of nature’s people’. This references to the people she feels most comforted by. However, this does not include the snake. This suggests Dickinson did not feel comfortable in the presence of the snake, men, and felt threaten by their existence. The form of this poem is the shape of a rapid heartbeat which captures the idea that the presence of the snake or males bring a great deal of anxiety for Dickinson.
One could argue that Dickinson’s poems dispute romantic individualism in her work. This has been demonstrated throughout the poem, ‘I’m Nobody’. Throughout this poem she claims that she is ‘Nobody’. This term implies she does not wish to have identity and does not want to stand out. Further, the use of rhetorical questions such as ‘Who are you?’ and ‘Are you – Nobody-too?’ gives the indication that she wants the rest of society to also be ‘Nobody’ too. This implies that she desires to be like others. Therefore, this does not confirm romantic individualism as her ideologies are not original. Dickinson states further, ‘How dreary – to be – Somebody!’. The use of exclamation marks exaggerates the idea that she does not want to be a ‘Somebody’. Therefore, these quotes do not meet properties of romantic individualism as it does not challenge social norms and constraints. However, one could argue that actually this poem does confirm romantic individualism as the text acts as a paradox. The personification of ‘Nobody’, through the capitalisation of the word can represent. It could represent a person or name. However, the original term or this word indicates someone who lacks identification. Being a ‘Nobody’ enables Dickinson to stand out from the majority, giving herself identity through the paradox. Dickinson also states she does not follow the ‘public’ who are ‘like a frog’. This simile implies that the public are like frogs, who are loud and are croaking constantly. They are seen to be social creatures that live together. Research has shown that frogs croak in order to attract females. This can act as an allegory to represent the ‘public’ as vulgar conformists who behave in certain ways to attract the presence of women. Although this poem has connotations of a lack of self-identity it can be argued that she uses the term ‘nobody’ in order to stand out from the crowd and maintain individuality which confirms romantic individualism.
To conclude, Dickinson’s work does confirm romantic individualism. This can be seen when she references womens’ status and individuality. The poet believes strongly in individual rights and breaking from society. Dickinson states that ‘community is not good for me’. This shows features of the romantic movement as she is self-reliant. Her work expresses a great deal of emotion and imagination which further confirms romantic individualism in her work. One could argue that the poet’s style of writing alone can be seen as unconventional and breaks away from traditional poetry. This is a feature of romantic individualism since they are unconventional and revolutionary. Some of Dickinson’s work appears to dispute romantic individualism. This can be seen through Dickinson’s irony when addressing issues, suggesting that she wishes to conform to society. However, one could argue that this technique is being used to mock conformism and demonstrate how she wishes to stand apart.