Gender Equality In Emily Dickinson's She Rose To His Requirement

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Recommended: Introduction to gender discrimination

Published in 1863, “She Rose to His Requirement” by Emily Dickinson is the voice exclusively for women. The poem expresses the values and aspirations women have to give up to devote their lives to marriage. This is an unequal exchange for marriage when women have to sacrifice many precious things to fit into the role of a wife. Throughout the poem, the theme of feminism rises remarkably, and it leaves a hallmark for Dickinson’s philosophy of gender equality.
Emily Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, on December 10, 1830. She was the middle child in a family of three. Her father was a respected lawyer, working as the treasurer of Amherst College, and her grandfather was one of the college 's founders. Her mother was a traditional, quiet …show more content…

Her poetry legacy approximates nearly 2,000 poems. Many of them include a radical philosophy, which requires sensitive perception from the reader. Typically, the poem “She Rose to His Requirement” contains an indignant point of view of gender inequality. In the 19th century, women were inferior to men, and they did not have many rights as men did. Married women were restricted to domestic employments. They were the shadow of their husbands. This prejudice was normal in Dickinson’s time period, but she refused to follow this convention. She owns a feminist ideology of a modern woman, so to her, limiting women’s ability is against nature. Therefore, the poem is her voice for the desire of gender equality for women, and for wives.
“She Rose to His Requirement” consists of three short stanzas. Filled with metaphor and irony in every verse, the poem not only conveys the profound meaning of the poet, but also it describes the refinement of the language. At the beginning, the title itself implies a dominated role of men in the relationship. Dickinson skillfully uses the words “rose” and “requirement” to portray the way women behave depends on men’s

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