Emily Dickinson Individuality Essay Research Paper Emily

Emily Dickinson: Individuality Essay, Research Paper

Emily Dickinson: Individuality Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830, to Edward Dickinson, a well-respected lawyer, and his wife Emily Norcross Dickinson, whom she was named after. She lived her whole life in the same house with her sister Lavina including after her parent s death in her middle years. Her parents had been very traditional, as most people were in those days. Her father, along with the rest of the family, were Christians and she alone decided to rebel against that and reject the Church. She like many of her contemporaries had rejected the traditional views in life and adopted the new transcendental outlook.Massachusetts, the state where Emily was born and raised, was the epicenter of religious practice before the transcendental period. Founded by the Puritans, the feeling of avenging had never left the people. After all of the Great Awakenings and religious revivals, the people of New England began to question the old ways. What used to be the focal point of all lives was now under speculation and often doubted. People began to search for new meanings in life. People like Emerson and Thoreau believed that answers lie in the individual. Emerson set the tone for the era when he said, Insist on yourself; never imitate (McMichael 691). Emily Dickinson believed and practiced this philosophy. When she was young, she was brought up by a stern and disciplined father. In her childhood she was shy and already different from the others. Like all the Dickinson children, male or female, Emily was sent for formal DeHaven 2education in Amherst Academy. After attending Amherst Academy with many other conscientious thinkers, and after reading many of Emerson s essays, she began to develop into a free willed person. Many of her friends had converted to Christianity. Her family was also putting an enormous amount of pressure for her to convert. No longer the submissive youngster she would not bend her will on such issues as religion, literature, and personal associations. She maintained a correspondence with Rev. Charles Wadsworth over a substantial period of time. Even though she rejected the Church as an entity she never did reject or accept God. Wadsworth appealed to her because he had an incredibly powerful mind and deep emotions. When he moved away in 1861, Emily was scarred and she expressed her deep sorrow in three successive poems in the years thereafter. I believe that although they were never romantically involved their relationship was apparently very profound. Emily s feelings for him grew to such great extents that she sealed herself from the outside world. She felt that she had no one left to talk to on a philosophical level and it is in my opinion that this is what led her into seclusion. Her life became filled with gloom and despair until she met Judge Otis P. Lord late in her life. Realizing that they were both well into their lives, they never married. When Judge Lord passed away, Emily s health condition, which had been hindered since childhood, worsened. In Emily s life the most important things to her were love, religion, individuality, and nature. When discussing DeHaven 3these themes she followed her lifestyle and broke away from traditional forms of writing and wrote with an intense energy and complexity that had never been seen before and is rarely seen today. She was a rarity not only because of her poetry but because she was one of the first female pioneers into the field of poetry. Emily often speaks of love in her poems, but she did it in such a way that would make people not want to fall in love. She writes of parting, separation, and loss. This is supported by the experiences she felt with Wadsworth and Otis P. Lord:Not with a club the heart is broken,Nor with a stone;A whip so small you could not see it,I ve known (Johnson 272)

This seems to be an actual account of the emotions she experienced during her relationship with Otis Lord. Individuality played a pervasive role in her life as a result of her bout with separation. Emily did not conform to society. She did not believe it was society s place to dictate to her how she should lead her life. Her poems reflect this sense of rebellion and revolution against tradition.From all the jails the boys and girlsEcstatically leap,Beloved, only afternoonThat prison doesn t keep. (Kirby 71) In this poem Emily shows her feelings towards formalized schooling. Being a product of reputable college one would think that she would be in favor of this. But as her beliefs in transcendentalism grew so DeHaven 4did her belief in individuality. She grew to adopt the Emersonian concepts and lead a daily life by them.Emily also went against the Church, which was an extreme rarity of the time. Similar to many others that shared her beliefs, she too did not think that a set religion was the way for salvation. Everyone should experience things for themselves.Some keep the Sabbath going to Church;I keep it, staying at Home,With a Bobolink for a Chorister,And an Orchard, for a Dome. (Johnson 66) According to this poem Emily clearly states that nature is her source of guidance and she has little need for the Church as an institution. Like Thoreau, Emily believed that people needed to understand nature before they could begin to comprehend humanity because humanity was just a part of nature. Unlike many others, she felt that nature was beaut