Emily's Life

Emily Dickinson was born and lived in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts and lived from 1830 to 1886. Her education consisted of attending Amherst Academy (1840-1847), Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (1847-1848) and having a family of omnivorous, greedy readers (Wilson 1). At a young age her father, Edward Dickinson, began the day with devout bible study and a prayer. As a result The Bible became the most influential book in her writing for she knew every line intimately and quoted it extensively throughout her works (Wilson 1). 

The few people she surrounded herself with were very intellectually minded people. For example, her father was an attorney and the treasurer of Amherst College, and also held one term in congress (Sylvan 551). Her friends were few and far between and they consisted mostly of lawyers, literary journalists, a Presbyterian minister, and politicians (Sylvan 551). Despite the fact that she surrounded herself and grew up with people actively involved in a public lifestyle and various political endeavors, Emily had no desire to pursue a career or become active in politics, reform, or have any romantic or sexual relationships with anyone as far as we know (Sylvan 550). 

It is quite puzzling that she led such a confined and strict life, yet her letters were often full of passion and fervent feelings. She was a very vibrant and unique individual that treasured solitude more than anything I believe. Considering that she dressed in white all the time and only allowed a doctor to examine her body (Sylvan 551) leads me to believe that god and religion were very important to her since white is a symbol of purity and the divine. Her physician diagnosed her with Bright’s disease as the leading cause of her death, although physicians of today speculate that she might’ve died of other natural causes (i.e. a brain aneurism). At her funeral her friend Thomas Wentworth Higginson read one of Emily’s poems on immortality. Thomas was a very radical reformer and essayist who Emily consulted in regards to her poems and thus a great deal of trust was confided in him.