An identity can often be found in what we write, the words we find ourselves writing down on a page are inexplicitly entangled in our self, part of the pleasure of reading and writing poetry 'resides in such vicarious acts of identification'. But what do we identify in our self? Emily Dickinson's poetry has long been recognised to be concerned with the concepts of the self, she is simply and starkly concerned with being herself and accommodating her view of the world to that concern. The narrating persona that embodies her work acts to challenge the limitations imposed upon her as a member of society and as a woman. Her poems work to operate in a transcendental world removing herself from the dominion of others to a place where she is no longer theirs but her own. However, at what cost?
Dickinson's poetics explore and enact both the 'subtle and complex subject that can never grasp itself fully', we as readers just as she as a writer endeavour to understand her intricate work and the self we discover in it. The evolution of her poetry illustrates the journey of self exploration she undertakes in an effort to decipher the effects of ‘psychological politics enacted in the convolutions of the psyche’. However, writing can also be a place where all self and sense is lost, we evaporate into the words we think we know and understand only to discover that we are lost and must lose self in order to find it.
Poem 508 marks the beginning of Dickinson's evolution of self-thought and actualization. The poem begins with 'I am', an immediate declaration and admittance, this 'I' is personal and we assume it to be Dickinson herself, yet 'I' is known only in limited detail'. When looking at the definition of the word 'I' in The Emily Dickinson Lexicon we given thirty-eight various meanings and referrals, however, the first refers to 'a speaker who feels imprisoned' and this 'I' is 'ceded' – 'I am ceded'. But why is the 'I' ceded as opposed to conceded? To concede is to yield and conform, to be passive to an authority, to be imprisoned. But Dickinson’s use of the word 'ceded’, though still means ‘to abdicate, surrender, and yield’ can also mean to ‘liberate’ and ‘freedom’, but which definition is Dickinson using? As a writer, she explores the 'capacity of language to represent and disguise the world' and consequently the self that lives in this world. There is a clear conflict within this word itself, and Dickinson's choice of it perhaps alludes to a bigger struggle within the writer herself, as not only have they ‘ceded’ they have ’stopped being Theirs’.
‘I’ve stopped being Theirs’, is yet another declaration of ‘I’, an individual self. It is not a ‘we’ or an ‘us’, but a singular rebellion against a group of They. The capitalisation of ‘Theirs’ acts as a name giving this group a title, but the word is also possessive and authoritarian, the all threatening They. The opposition between ‘I’ and ‘They’ brings forth an idea of being an ‘other’, an outsider to this tyrannical group. Dickinson is known to be concerned with the notion of subjectivity and individual thought, her poems themselves rebelling against the accepted traditions of literacy with their dashes and obscured meanings. What the very first line of this poem demonstrates is the turmoil that pervades most of Dickinson's poetry. Her choice of the word ‘ceded’ implies a powerlessness but this then followed by the declaration of reclaiming self questions whether, surrendering can be liberation and whether freedom can be abdication. This ambiguous blurring of meaning toys with the limitations of what we think we understand and her rejection of being 'Theirs' leaves us to question who this they are and consequently if we ourselves are theirs too. What Dickinson's lyric form allows her to do is illustrate the 'precariousness of identity', her allusive form demonstrates the 'unmappable privacy and unacknowledged limitations of individuality'.
Poem 508 charts a psychological metamorphosis but also demonstrates the effects of psychological politics in the transfiguring experience from childhood to womanhood, but more importantly from being theirs to being one's own. ’The name They dropped upon my face / With water, in a country, church / Is finished using now’. It is clear that this is an image of baptism ‘With water, in a country church’, an act of which brands a person with a name and so their identity. Our name is something we have no choice in, no power over. It is something that is given to us by them. Similarly, we may say that 'a dog comes when it is called', and so do we, we like it 'know [our] name'. However, the act of ‘dropping’ a name upon a person's face reads as graphic and violent. Our face, just like our name, is how we are identified, it is who we are, but this ‘dropping’ of a name seems both forceful and indifferent. When we drop something it is an accident, we are careless, the thing we have dropped consequently painfully breaks, just as a child’s face may break into a cry when being baptised. The act of baptism demonstrates how this voice of authority depends upon conformity. Children are baptised at a pre-vocal age, an age where they cannot question the regimes that are imposed upon them by this 'They', which is again capitalised.
Dickinson’s reiteration of the importance of this ‘They’ is clear but this ambiguous pronoun is given without any referral or meaning. We are left to question both who the ‘I’ and ‘They’ are and what they mean. But as the poem progresses we learn that this ‘They’ are those that have dictated her life, having chosen her name, constructed her childhood, and governed her evolution from a child to a woman. However, the most important part of this ‘They’ in terms of sexual politics, is that in naming her and being ‘Theirs’ they have owned her, and it is this possessive act that initiates the rejection that occurs in the first line of the poem. In these few lines, Dickinson makes an implicit rejection of baptism, a ritual of patriarchal religion which constructs a person's character but more so she objectively rejects the power that this constitution claims over language and identity. Her depiction of this process of naming, of becoming ‘Theirs’, is both graphic and lackadaisical. The syntactical ambiguity of ‘Is finishing using, now’ questions again is she finished using the name or is the name, and more specifically those that gave it to her, finished using her? What the presence of this 'They' does within this poem is articulate the idea that the word 'individuality is always spoken with a forked tongue'.
It is evident that for Dickinson such clear cut binary distinctions are problematic, the initial rejection of religious rite and the power it has to name is juxtaposed by her rejection of female socialisation into the patriarchy: her name ‘They can put it with my Dolls, / My childhood and a string of spools I’ve finished threading – too’. By placing such things as her name followed by her dolls and then her string of spools in the order she does, Dickinson demonstrates how they are each interconnected and operate within a larger organisation than what may be first seen; the name we are given is merely the start of indoctrination into the patriarchal society and all other elements naturally follow suit. This effort to 'consciously join the body politic, putting group interests before that of the individual' demonstrates the initial power that is held in naming a person to the dogma of Christianity and the social construction of femininity.
By grouping all these items together along with her name, it is clear that she is severing any tie with the society that has controlled her since birth. She has become aware of all the implements that were used to control and designate her position and orientation into society, all of this ‘without the choice’, or consciousness. She moves now to see herself ’half unconscious Queen’ but the importance here lies in the use of the word ‘half’. She has not yet achieved her full potential or consciousness, and rather in this act starts her transition into achieving it. Noting that ‘this time -‘, this time things will be different ‘Adequate – Erect’. The use of words such as ‘Adequate’ and ‘Erect’ indicate a sense of properness, yet this is her own individual meaning and sense of properness. Using these words act as a play on those who see the systematic use of baptism as ‘proper’, those that have fallen in line with the decree of religious and patriarchal society. Dickinson's comments on society question 'how self- conscious must an individual or society be in making, using, or attributing value'. She again challenges the nature of clear-cut distinctions and definitions, what she sees as proper is not what ‘They’ see, it is not what she values. She disposes of the limitations that have been imposed upon her, giving herself both the ‘Will to choose or reject’, thus overcoming the possessive control that ‘They’ once had, now conscious of her ability to choose – 'And I choose, Just a Crown -'. By way of choosing and appointing this crown to herself, Dickinson assumes control and dominion over identity. The entanglement 'of the politicized human body and the body politic has been emblematic of modern sovereignty' but she has made this sovereignty her own, therefore critiquing this emblem that 'has been shown to mask a complex set of relations and exclusions that both constitute and compromise individual and collective agency and identity'.
This concern and tension between self and external society is again evident in Poem 303 which stands as a statement about the power of self alone detached from the 'fraught relation between the social body'. The first line of the poem 'The Soul selects her own Society' brings forth the idea of personal choice, being able to both 'select' and ‘reject’, just as in Poem 508. But differently, to Poem 508 there is no 'I' mentioned but rather a 'Soul'. When looking at the definition of the word 'Soul' it refers to three things: 'Person; human being. Heart; spirit; [fig.] bravery; courage; inner fire. Self; inner being; spiritual essence; rational faculty of human; immortal substance in a person'. It appears that the term 'Soul' unites our being as a human and our inner being, our self. But more importantly here it is the 'Soul' that 'selects her own society', the subjective consciousness that was emerging in Poem 508 is now present, and a decision of self will has been made. Both the possessive pronoun of 'her' and the word 'own' displace the authority and control that 'They' from Poem 508 had into the 'Soul' itself. Similarly again, 'Society' is capitalised just as 'They' is, but rather this time it is a society of her own choosing, not one that ‘They’ have constructed. This question and pursuit of selfhood that pervades Dickinson's work questions 'the relation between individual bodies and the social body, between individual souls and an abstract collective' to which upon creating her own society she shuts the door to this abstract collective – 'Then – shuts the Door / To her own divine Majority / Present no more'. The decision is definitive; the door is closed to a past of dictatorship. But what role does the door play, by already choosing her own society she is excluded from the majority but a door can both be opened and shut, so is this action one that leaves open the possibility of change?
The phrase 'divine Majority' hints again at the rejection of patriarchal religion, those that bare the stamp of divine sanction. But such traditional roles of power are reversed here. By creating her own 'Society' and having the ability to construct a world for one's self-comprises the greatest power. Not only is the 'Soul' 'divine' it is also identified as a 'Society' and a 'Majority', placing this one individual ‘Soul’ along side the all-powerful 'They' of Poem 508 in terms of authority and jurisdiction, therefore challenging what truly constitutes a social group.
Despite her remaining 'Unmoved' by the 'Chariots' and the '[kneeling} Emperor' making a claim of her equality with these entities, she also marks her difference from them too. The difference between the domestic vocabulary of 'Door', 'low Gate' and 'Mat' remark the Soul's dwelling as a space of simplicity as opposed to the grandeur of the Emperor's chariots. Dickinson depicts the rigor and finality of the Soul's choice, as 'from an ample nation – / Choose One – '. It seems that the door is never to be opened again, and while there is a definite power in the enclosed space of mind its confinement is ultimately isolating too. Narrowing herself from this 'ample nation' to only choosing one, turning into her own concerns and '[closing] the valves of her attention – / Like Stone'. Valves, just like doors can be opened and closed, but this paired with 'Like Stone' reinforces this image of a house. The 'stone' acts as the walls that separate the Soul from the rest of the world in a defying act of self-actualisation. But though these walls allow for escape from the conflict and terror that exist outside, what about those that happen within?
It seems that not only was Dickinson concerned with how authoritative entities influence the self but how this ritual of self-definition and categorisation can cause destruction within one's self. Poem 642 reads in short, abstract, nonsensical phases that bring together the different themes that are at work within the poem. Again similarly to Poem 508, the first line of Poem 642 embodies the turmoil at the heart of both the poem and perhaps the entirety of Dickinson's work. 'Me from Myself – to banish' the structure of this first line allows Dickinson to juxtapose 'Me' and 'Myself', two words that refer to the same thing but placed but are in opposition to each other. Dickinson's lyrical form does not 'mythologize the individual as a readable form', differently to the novel that makes coherence out of isolated events, the lyric form takes 'isolated moments out of coherence and restores with words the contingency of the self that has been lost to experience'. What Dickinson demonstrates in this first line is a division of self, the subjugation of self by the self in the multiplication of the first person in different names. It is no longer the battle of 'I' and 'They' of Poem 508, but rather what Poem 642 demonstrates is how Dickinson's doubt moves beyond orthodox uncertainty, but to an actual uncertainty within herself.
The theme of rejection runs rife in Dickinson's poetry, however, this time the rejection is of her self, or rather part of her self. The image of a house or a dwelling is repeated in Poem 642, the stone walls of Poem 303 are now 'Impregnable', and have also become a 'Fortress'. Previously, where forms of attack and constraints came from those outside of these walls, it seems that what is attacking her now exists within her fortress 'But since Myself – assault Me -'. However, here Dickinson reverses the places of 'Me' and 'Myself' from the previous stanza, calling herself 'Me' this time and making 'Myself' the other, perhaps not truly knowing which one is her self. She shifts in this poem from less grounded and relatable tone to a more philosophical train of thought 'How have I peace / Except by subjugating / Consciousness?'. The rhetorical question, of course, has no answer and acts more of a plea, a last hope to achieving this long-awaited peace that seems can only be gained by releasing the individual in return for the whole. Having moved from the concept of severing self from society and dictatorship to now severing self from its consciousness demonstrates how Dickinson's concept and view of self has deteriorated, her enemy now has become herself in this 'unaccountable surplus' of individuality and identity. But the use of the word 'We' in the last stanza unites the I and other of 'Me', 'Myself' and 'Consciousness' but under the title of 'We’re Mutual Monarch'. The Queen that she crowned herself as in Poem 508 is now facing abdication in order to save herself and her sanity – 'How this be / Except by Abdication – / Me – of Me?'. Dickinson's lyric was a uniquely available for her self-expression, the brevity of her poems distort syntax and sense, but this demonstrates is that she is lost too, and indeed must lose part of herself in order to regain self.
It seems that self is a complex thing, and will never be as clear cut as we may like it to be, and the question lies of whether it ever should be? Dickinson’s efforts in her endeavour to find self illustrate the painful cost that may come with trying to do so, having achieved self consciousness for it to only haunt and assault her. Perhaps self is an all too powerful thing once freed from the names, definitions and constraints that are imposed upon it, as sometimes dogs must be kept on leashes because they bite back.
Though yes, she succeeds in highlighting the authoritarian control that society poses to individuality and self actualization, society is perhaps the parent that only ever wants the best for the child, having gone before them and knowing better for it. But what Dickinson also proves is that it can be done and that there is a power to rival the constitution in doing so, not a power of dictatorship over others but a power in knowing self and it’s cost. Knowing whether we as the individual have the capability to discover self in a world that continually hides it from us.
When we read a poem that is full of meaning for us to see, we too feel full and purposeful, but when a writer such as Dickinson places a poem in front of us that appears to challenge what we thought we once knew, the act of reading can become frustrating and painful, as we like the writer lose ourselves in thought. Dickinson thought about poetry and her writing ‘leads one to think through the poetic forms through which she thought’, so maybe it is Dickinson sits on the throne, leaving us to fall into her trap of thinking just like we fell into the world’s, warning us to go astray.
d