Should Emily Dickinson Be Considered a Feminist Writer?
Emily Dickinson is an American poet who lived in the 19th century and wrote around 1800 poems, only 10 of which were published in her lifetime. She is known for her unique writing style of slant rhymes, unconventional capitalization and punctuation, symbolic imagery, and a lighter interpretation of dark themes. Many critics have analyzed her writing from a feminist perspective and labeled her as a feminist writer because of her resistance to societal expectations of women.
On the other side of this argument, some insist that it is an oversimplification to label Dickinson as a feminist writer, rather than acknowledging many other complex aspects of her artistry and lifestyle. Those who argue this want to focus more on the innovation of her writing, its philosophical depth, and its complex experimentation. This perspective acknowledges that Dickinson’s work has been part of the feminist movement, but her work isn’t only about gender issues. It's also important to acknowledge the distinct style of her poems, her unique symbolism, and the way she writes about existential themes with a different take than expected. The nuance that is included in Dickinson’s work may be reduced when the reader only sees her as an author who writes about women’s issues.
Perspective #1: Emily Dickinson’s Poetry Expresses Feminist Ideas
One side of the debate argues that Emily Dickinson should be considered a feminist writer because she has written about the issues of a female writer in the 19th century and advocated for such issues. In the 1800s, it was very risky for a woman to publish her stories and express her thoughts on paper. Although it was possible for a woman to publish her work, they still faced discrimination and obstacles. Many women would write under a gender-neutral pseudonym in order for their writing to be accepted and taken seriously. Emily Dickinson chose to write poems about the restrictions of being a female poet under her given name, not hiding her gender identity. 
In “Feminist Conceptions of Dickinson,” Adrienne Rich points out that Dickinson’s poem “My Life had stood – a Loaded Gun –” “is a central poem for understanding Dickinson and the condition of the woman artist because it indicates how dangerous the medium of poetry could feel for a woman. Experiencing herself as a loaded gun, Dickinson felt the lethal power of poetry for women” (qtd. in Dickie 10). Rich explains that in this poem, Dickinson describes the risk she is taking by being a female poet in the 19th century. Taking the step of freely expressing her thoughts feels lethal to her because almost no one in society is willing to accept the possibility that women could write poetry. Dickinson would rather channel her thoughts and passions into poetry than let society hold her back. By resisting the box society tried to place her in, Dickinson expresses the independence shown in feminist writing. Critics like Adrienne Rich and Margaret Dickie make the argument that Emily Dickinson should be considered a feminist writer for this reason.
Perspective #2: Emily Dickinson is More Than A Feminist Writer
Not everybody agrees that Emily Dickinson’s most important quality is her role in feminist critique. One person who supports a different perspective is Holly Rimmer-Tagoe, author of the article, “Emily Dickinson: More Than a Feminist Hero.” She makes the point that the legacy of Dickinson’s poems is so much more complicated than feminist critics might give her credit for, and that labeling her as a feminist writer puts her into a box and restricts her impact. Reducing her work to a “marketable” term does not do justice to the complexity of her work. Her poetry is known for the way she explores dark topics like death and grief with a more lighthearted and accepting tone. “Death is explored with humour, hope is intertwined with difficulty. Her poems always sit in that in-between, ungraspable place where feeling can’t be easily or simply expressed” (Rimmer-Tagoe, 1). In poems like “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain” she embodies the perspective of the dead and compares her inner mentality to the ceremony of death.
In these poems she does not look at death as a thing to dread or be afraid of, rather something she has accepted and used as a way to express herself in her poetry. These are some of Dickinson’s most well-regarded poems because of the unique way that she writes about those subjects, without shying away from dark subjects. Therefore, labeling her as a feminist writer without considering pieces of her writing that define her legacy would be too restricting. Holly Rimmer-Tagoe explains, “[S]he is a great example of feminine talent and verve, in choosing to live life according to her own rules despite the opinions of others – but her work is complex and contradictory and not easy to categorise. In a distant book utopia, writers wouldn’t need to be described in pithy, repetitive slogans.” (2). Rimmer-Tagoe makes the point that labeling writers with “repetitive slogans” is something that happens often, and she calls for the audience to focus on the complexities that define an artist and make them unique, rather than labeling them with a slogan that is one-dimensional. Emily Dickinson’s writing legacy requires more than a repetitive slogan, it asks readers to acknowledge things that make Dickinson unique as a writer and view her legacy with less generalizations.
Similarities and Differences
Perspective #1 emphasizes the importance of Dickinson as a figure in feminist critique, while perspective #2 contradicts this view by saying it’s too restrictive and does not account for the complexities of Dickinson’s work. Although, they both agree that Dickinson’s poetry expresses issues related to feminist theory in some capacity, and feminist critics have reclaimed her work. Margaret Dickie writes, “[a]s a poet, Dickinson encouraged the move of feminist criticism from narrative explanations of women writers into stylistic analyses of their work, opening new areas of study informed by linguistic and psychoanalytic theories, and encouraging a feminist focus on language, rhetoric, and grammar” (10). Perspective #1 is more upfront about Dickinson’s feminist viewpoints and behaviors, arguing that it is the most prominent piece of her poetry, and it’s important to focus on Dickinson’s feminist rhetoric to understand her work. Perspective #2 acknowledges the first view, agreeing that Dickinson strays away from society’s expectations, but reinforces the reader’s focus on the unique way she writes about grief. “As well as describing the social constraints placed on women, Dickinson’s work takes on the hardy subject of grief and the inevitability of death in original and inventive ways” (Rimmer-Tagoe, 1).
Margaret Dickie argues, “As the greatest woman poet of all times, she has been central to feminist criticism in all stages of its development. Her prominence has demanded a feminist criticism responsive to it even as her poetry has cast up a formidable resistance to such explication” (9). Dickie argues that Dickinson is one of the most important figures as the feminist movement has developed, supporting the argument that Dickinson should be considered a feminist writer because of her influence on the feminist movement as it has developed. Both perspectives agree that Dickinson’s work makes a case for feminist critique, but they differ in their perspectives on how much of a priority it is to categorize her work in that specific way.
Strengths and Weaknesses
While both of these perspectives make a valid argument, there are visible strengths and weaknesses in the ways they present their ideas. Starting with perspective #1, the source “Feminist Conceptions of Dickinson,” explains in detail why Emily Dickinson should be included in feminist criticism. The author, Margaret Dickie, supports her argument with examples related to literature, historical context, and textual evidence from other writers and Dickinson herself. She offers a few examples that add to her credibility: “Vivian Pollak’s major study, Dickinson: The Anxiety of Gender (1984), established definitively the importance of gender in Dickinson’s life and in her career. From this ground-breaking study to the most recent work by Martha Nell Smith and Susan Howe on Dickinson’s manuscripts, feminist critics have both broadened and deepened awareness of Dickinson’s work…” (1). Dickie references studies and reports done about Dickinson’s life and how that connects to feminism. These details add to her argument’s credibility when she ties the evidence back to her argument.
However, the article tends to rely on theories and speculation about Dickinson’s life and thoughts. Emily Dickinson lived much of her life in solitude, so there is very little that has been confirmed about her life. One example is the theory of her sexual identity, which has been heavily speculated, but of course not confirmed. But Dickie refers to her speculated lesbian identity as a fact, while also placing a label on her that did not commonly exist in the 1800s. Dickie’s argument also focuses mainly on gender, without feeling the need to acknowledge other cultural and personal influences like experiences of grief or societal pressures, which may have strengthened her argument and allowed for less of a one-dimensional interpretation. Overall, Dickie offers a great analysis of Emily Dickinson’s work from a feminist lens but does not allow for as much nuance as this topic requires, and relies too heavily on speculations, rather than confirmed facts about Dickinson’s life.
Moving on to perspective #2, the source “Emily Dickinson: More Than a Feminist Hero” presents a more nuanced interpretation of Emily Dickinson’s life and impact of her work. The author, Holly Rimmer-Tagoe, introduces a balanced argument that acknowledges Dickinson as an important figure in the feminist movement while also acknowledging other important aspects of her work. Rimmer-Tagoe’s arguments are backed up with confirmed details about Dickinson’s life, rather than theoretical information. She acknowledges the fact that the feminist movement has recently reclaimed Dickinson’s work, but doesn’t take away from the complexity of her artistry. Unlike the first source, it avoids presenting theories about her as fact and allows for a more nuanced thesis that acknowledges the details about Dickinson’s life that have been left up to interpretation.
Although the source has a strong argument backed by evidence, there are still some weak spots. While it does a fair job at explaining why some feminist interpretations tend to reduce Dickinson’s complexity into “a marketable slogan,” it doesn’t acknowledge the points that those same interpretations could be making. For instance, the author references poems like “Because I could not stop for Death” and “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,” but the analyses are more focused on the theme of these poems, and don’t go into the poems very specifically. A more specific analysis of these poems could strengthen the argument by having more concrete evidence to back it up. Specifics always make the evidence more convincing and important. Although both sources have done a fairly good job presenting their arguments, they both have aspects about them that weaken pieces of their stance, and they could refine to make them more grounded.
Compromise
After analyzing both sides of this argument, each side has presented their perspectives fairly well, but neither of them has a perfect way of backing it up and considering all aspects of the debate. Within perspective #2’s argument, it asserts #1’s view on Dickinson's writing, but accuses the feminist view of being too limiting. Both sides agree that Dickinson’s life work has an important spot in the development of feminist criticism. However, there is so much to consider within that realm, and feminism is constantly evolving. This makes it difficult to argue for one side, as there is so much to consider about Dickinson’s work, and about feminism.
After considering what I know about Dickinson’s expression of gender issues in her work, I think the way she expresses her ideas of gender issues and expresses a desire to stray away from societal norms is reflective of a feminist view. Although it makes sense to consider her a feminist writer, that is not the only purpose of her work. The barriers she has broken by looking at darker themes like grief and death in a new way and pushing the boundaries of poetic structure should also be acknowledged as part of her prominence. Emily Dickinson is not just a feminist writer; she is also an important poetic figure who has pushed many boundaries that don’t only have to do with her being a woman and a feminist figure.
I loved the compromise you came to. Emily Dickinson is extremely popular and influential figure in the literary world and she also happens to be a feminist. 🫶🫶
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