Journal 6: Emily Dickinson

Letter 199 (pg. 173)

"How odd the Girl's life looks Behind this soft Eclipse-- I think that Earth feels so To folks in Heaven--now--" The above passage is taken from Letter 199 of Thomas Johnson's 1960 edition of The Letters of Emily Dickinson. Here Emily Dickinson uses her knowledge in religious studies to challenge the subordinate status of women. She does this through her use of rhetoric, metaphoric representations, and her use of a little and big "w."

In regard to the quote above, we see Dickinson saying a girl's life is the same as looking behind an eclipse; in other words, she lives in the shadow of the man. You may notice, by using the word "girl" rather than "woman" she sets a specific image in the reader's mind, one of innocence.

She then goes on to say that the Earth feels the same as the girl, in the shadow of Heaven. The religious background to her quote is immense. In fact, this quote takes us back to the Garden of Eden from the Bible. Eve (the woman), in this infamous story, fell in to sin in partaking of the forbidden apple; she disobeyed God first, and thus proved to be the weaker sex. Well, this is what the Christian history has led us to believe anyhow. In addition, Lucifer (the devil) is known to be the ruler of the Earth as he was once an angel of God, falling in to sin himself and thus landing himself on the throne to hell. In a way, both woman and devil are in the same boat: they are both outcasts.

At the same time, Dickinson is crying out for a sort of justice that would accept and forgive women and just let them be! She best expresses this by beginning: "I'm 'wife'--I've finished that--" This first use of the little "w" expresses her repressed self, that which lives in eclipse or the shadow of man. She then states clearly, "I've finished that." Obviously, this woman is sick of conformity and tired of judgment. (Perhaps the reason she chose to withdraw for most of her life). She then goes on to say, "I'm 'Woman' now--" In these two phrases, she illustrates a woman's two choices, 1) she can conform to the societal rules of what a wife, a good, Christian wife, should be OR 2) be looked down upon as a Woman, a whore, a sinner. And finally she ends: "I'm 'Wife'! Stop there!" By merging the word "wife" with a big "W," she declares herself a more proud Wife, a full Woman.

I believe Emily Dickinson, in her own time period was to say the least, dissatisfied at the choices or lack of choices for women. Clearly, she acknowledges the history behind today's societal misconceptions; however, she rejects their implications. She is saying, SO WHAT! So what, Eve ate an apple, SO WHAT!

As a woman, I have to agree. It is amazing how one story becomes so intricately woven into the fabric of society that one does not even have to know it is there. How did women achieve this lesser standard of being? Emily Dickinson certainly struck a chord here. In America (the United States to be more specific), male-female relationships are deeply rooted in the Christian Bible whether you are a Christian or not; that is the mainstream.