Critics continue to question and debate the central biographical
mysteries of Dickinson’s life to this day. Questions about why she did the
things she did have been the hot topic of many current scholarly attempts to
understand Dickinson as a person in order to better understand her poems and
literature. What might be considered the biggest question in regards to Emily
Dickinson is why she secluded herself from the rest of the world and to an
extent her family. Some scholars suggest that she did this as both an act of
female submission and a sign of rebellion since in her self confinement she
became an extreme and parodic version of the domestically confined woman
(Buoson 2). It is also a well known fact that Dickinson dressed only in white.
The reason why is under speculation. Some believe that the white represented her
desire to rise above the body and material world and transcend (Buoson 2).
When it comes to her apparent disapproval of the publication of her work some people are not convinced that she wanted her work to go undiscovered. The reason they speculate is because she circulated hundreds of letters between her friends and family. More importantly, she organized and bound her poems into small booklets and stored them in her drawer. Nearly 1,800 poems were found. She did request that her sister burn the letters she wrote but if Dickinson knew death was upon her why did she not take it upon herself to destroy these poems? I believe she might of done this in order to achieve a level of immortality that she strived to accomplish through transcendentalism. Although Dickinson heavily incorporated the bible and Christianity into her writing her intentions are to use the symbolism of these doctrines to communicate her ideas as opposed to literally interpreting the bible. She uses terms such as heaven, immortality, Eden, crucifixion, God, and spirit, bends the meanings of these words to suit her expressive purposes and even uses them ironically in some situations (Hughes 1). This does not mean that she is mocking Christianity, it seems it is indispensable to her, she is just asking deeper questions in regards to what life and death really are and what happens in the afterlife if there is one.
When it comes to her apparent disapproval of the publication of her work some people are not convinced that she wanted her work to go undiscovered. The reason they speculate is because she circulated hundreds of letters between her friends and family. More importantly, she organized and bound her poems into small booklets and stored them in her drawer. Nearly 1,800 poems were found. She did request that her sister burn the letters she wrote but if Dickinson knew death was upon her why did she not take it upon herself to destroy these poems? I believe she might of done this in order to achieve a level of immortality that she strived to accomplish through transcendentalism. Although Dickinson heavily incorporated the bible and Christianity into her writing her intentions are to use the symbolism of these doctrines to communicate her ideas as opposed to literally interpreting the bible. She uses terms such as heaven, immortality, Eden, crucifixion, God, and spirit, bends the meanings of these words to suit her expressive purposes and even uses them ironically in some situations (Hughes 1). This does not mean that she is mocking Christianity, it seems it is indispensable to her, she is just asking deeper questions in regards to what life and death really are and what happens in the afterlife if there is one.
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