Emily Dickinson's Poem 'She Rose To His Requirement'

In Emily Dickinson’s poem “She Rose to His Requirement” the poet uses various images to portray her prospective on woman who drop everything to become a man’s wife. From the title the reader has an image of an independent woman dropping everything that she was to become the wife of a man. From the woman that “lay unmentioned”, to the “pearl” and the “weed” the poem depicts a clear understanding that in that time period were subordinate to men. Although the poem portrays a women doing exactly that, putting aside her individuality and freedom for a life of subjectivity, there is also an empowerment. Reading the poem one could see a woman fulfilling her duty and another could see a feminist illustrating the inferiority of women at the time.

The title of the story starts off the reader with an image of a young woman dropping all of her dreams and ambitions to become married to a man and become a housewife. During the time that this poem was written it was the social norm for a woman to marry a man, stay at home, clean the house, and take care of the children. It was according to the poem the “honorable work” for a women. There was no room for a woman to have ambitions or dreams of a career. Everything that made the portrayed woman an individual she “dropt-the playthings of her life”. Because, meeting the expectations set by the culture

was more important than her own happiness. Her one duty was to become the ideal woman.
In the time period of the poem women were considerably less significant than a man and had almost no say in any matter.

This was portrayed in the last stanza when Dickinson wrote “It lay unmentioned”. The sentence illustrates a man being given a great opportunity because he is a male, and a woman not even being considered because of her gender. Behind this phrase is the lack of belief in potential. A woman’s significance is hardly relevant, her word means almost nothing, wither she’s happy or not is hardly contemplated. Even if she loathes the person she is married to, the relationship won’t end unless he wants the marriage to

end.
Another use of imagery that Dickinson uses to portray how woman are viewed is by her use of the pearl and weed. A pearl symbolically is something that portrays purity, honesty, and wisdom. However, they can also “stimulate your femininity and help with self-acceptance”. While the pearl is something that is sought for and appreciated, weed has almost no importance or meaning compared to the pearl. The weed represents the woman who has no intentions of marriage or has ambitions beyond being a housewife. A woman that wants to have a say and wants to be significant. She is represented by the weed because in this society a woman who cherishes her self-worth and dreams are insignificant. Where the woman that drops everything for a man and marries is a pearl. Accepting the fact that she is destined to a life where what she thinks doesn’t matter, because she is just a woman.