Preserving Individualism: Emily Dickinson And A Transcendental Type Of Thinking

Emily Dickinson cast light upon her own ideological predispositions in her poetry. Living and having written in 19th-century New England, she subscribed to the transcendentalist movement that blossomed around her. A core tenet of this quasi-religious philosophy, with which Dickinson seemed to identify, is the emphasis on individualism. Ralph Waldo Emerson, believed to be the father of this doctrine, extolled the virtues of self-reliance in the like-named essay. He wrote about individualism as a social outlook that prioritized independence of thought and action and that rejected conformity. Emily Dickinson’s underlying transcendental values are evident in her criticism of existing social institutions.

Transcendentalist themes of self-reliance and independent thought extend most clearly into “Much Madness is divinest sense.” In this poem about the conformist culture that was a hallmark of society, Dickinson observed that “Much Sense [is] the starkest Madness [by] the Majority.” The seemingly enigmatic phrase, “Much Sense [is] the starkest Madness,” is simple in the context of Transcendentalism and Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” in particular. Emerson was “ashamed to think how easily we capitulate to badges and names, to large societies and dead institutions.” These two quotes from like-minded authors are intensely intertwined. Dickinson meant that to have “much sense” in the eyes of the “majority” is the “starkest madness.” Emerson shared this view, even “ashamed” by the speed with which people abandon their personal sentiments to conform to societal norms and values. Emily Dickinson highlighted the problematic societal practices of alienating people who “Demur” and observing them as “straightaway dangerous [people, that ought to be] handled with a Chain.”

Similarly, Dickinson’s “My Life had stood a loaded gun” also resonates with the transcendental ideology. In this poem, Emily Dickinson developed the literal topic, a gun, to represent the lack of agency and independence that women had -- constrained as they were by societal mores. In the first stanza, Dickinson wrote that the gun, by which we might see a woman, lies “in Corners - till a Day, the Owner passed - identified - and carried Me away.” In stanza two, she details the gun being carried through the woods by the owner, hunting. In the third stanza, Dickinson draws attention to the fact that no matter how powerful the weapon, or woman, is, it has no agency and no use without a man to wield it. The gun lacks independence as it cannot hunt on its own and instead is reliant on the owner taking it out of the “corner” where it was in a state of disuse. The owner is in ultimate control, being the only one who can pull the trigger and fire the gun. The poem, as a whole, is an allegory pointing to the lack of independence that women had in society. She argued that the current social construct limited women’s individualism, a crucial element of the social theory of transcendentalism. Both poems, “Much Madness is divinest sense” and “My Life had stood a loaded gun,” illustrate the lack of room in society for independent thought and the scarcity of self-reliance. The absence of individualism as a social outlook rankled Dickinson.

In these poems, Emily Dickinson critiqued the long-standing social conventions that stifled individualism and, in doing so, offered readers a glimpse into her own values and beliefs. Not only was Emily Dickinson an exceptional poet, but more importantly, a revolutionary thinker and avid supporter of the transcendental movement germinating around her.