Ideas of Gender and Domesticity in Leaves of Grass and Selected Emily Dickinson Poems
Though both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were highly self-reliant and individualistic, he found importance in the “frontiers” and believed the soul was only attainable through a physical connection with nature, whereas she chose to isolate and seclude herself from her community in order to focus solely on her writing. In this analysis, I will look at excerpts from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I’m ‘wife’— I’ve finished that”, “What mystery pervades a well!” and “I’ll tell you how the sun rose”, to contrast their representations of self-realization and domesticity and the implications of this domesticity on their gender.
The first topic I will discuss and compare is their different attitudes toward “domesticity”. This is, of course, the opposite of everything Walt Whitman believed in. As I aforementioned, he held to the belief that the only way to have a pure soul and true connections with the Earth was to venture out into it. Physical, rather than emotional, connections with nature were absolutely necessary to life and to full self-realization (Comment, 62). Section 33 of Leaves of Grass begins with his cataloging all the wonders of nature he has seen, “Where the panther walks to and fro… where the otter is feeding on fish… where the black bear is searching for roots or honey…
Over the growing sugar, over the yellow-flower'd cotton plant… Over the western persimmon, over the long-leav'd corn…” (L, 33), and is followed later on by “no guard can shut me off, no law prevent me”. Whitman is discussing how free and alive he is in the American frontier, and attests that that is the only true way to be free, to find ...
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... and an end to his capacity to write. Domesticity for her—the only circumstances in which she would be able to.
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During the late romantic period, two of history’s most profound poets, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, emerged providing a foundation for, and a transition into Modern poetry. In its original form, their poems lacked the characteristics commonly attributed to most romantic poets of the mid to late nineteenth century who tended to utilize “highly stylized verses, having formal structures, figurative language and adorned with symbols” (worksheet). Unique and “eccentric use of punctuation” as well as “irregular use of meter and rhyme” were the steppingstones for this new and innovative style of writing (worksheet). Even though these two writers rejected the traditional approach, both remained firmly dedicated to their romantic idealism of the glass of water being “half full” opposed to “half empty.” Noted for his frequent practice of catalogs and parallelism, Whitman stirred up much controversy with his first edition of “leaves of Grass” in 1855. Many critics responded negatively to the ...
American poetry, unlike other nations’ poetry, is still in the nascent stage because of the absence of a history in comparison to other nations’ poetry humming with matured voices. Nevertheless, in the past century, American poetry has received the recognition it deserves from the creative poetic compositions of Walt Whitman, who has been called “the father of American poetry.” His dynamic style and uncommon content is well exhibited in his famous poem “Song of Myself,” giving a direction to the American writers of posterity. In addition, his distinct use of the line and breath has had a huge impression on the compositions of a number of poets, especially on the works of the present-day poet Allen Ginsberg, whose debatable poem “Howl” reverberates with the traits of Whitman’s poetry. Nevertheless, while the form and content of “Howl” may have been impressed by “Song of Myself,” Ginsberg’s poem expresses a change from Whitman’s use of the line, his first-person recital, and his vision of America. As Whitman’s seamless lines are open-ended, speaking the voice of a universal speaker presenting a positive outlook of America, Ginsberg’s poem, on the contrary, uses long lines that end inward to present the uneasiness and madness that feature the vision of America that Ginsberg exhibits through the voice of a prophetic speaker.
“Although Emily Dickinson is known as one of America’s best and most beloved poets, her extraordinary talent was not recognized until after her death” (Kort 1). Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, where she spent most of her life with her younger sister, older brother, semi-invalid mother, and domineering father in the house that her prominent family owned. As a child, she was curious and was considered a bright student and a voracious reader. She graduated from Amherst Academy in 1847, and attended a female seminary for a year, which she quitted as she considered that “’I [she] am [was] standing alone in rebellion [against becoming an ‘established Christian’].’” (Kort 1) and was homesick. Afterwards, she excluded herself from having a social life, as she took most of the house’s domestic responsibilities, and began writing; she only left Massachusetts once. During the rest of her life, she wrote prolifically by retreating to her room as soon as she could. Her works were influenced ...
Walt Whitman was born May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island. His early years included much contact with words and writing; he worked as an office boy as a pre-teen, then later as a printer, journalist, and, briefly, a teacher, returning eventually to his first love and life’s work—writing. Despite the lack of extensive formal education, Whitman experienced literature, "reading voraciously from the literary classics and the Bible, and was deeply influenced by Goethe, Carlyle, Emerson, and Sir Walter Scott" (Introduction vii).
Very few people will contest that Walt Whitman may be one of the most important and influential writers in American literary history and conceivably the single most influential poet. However many have claimed that Whitman’s writing is so free form as evident in his 1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass and Song of Myself that it has no style. The poetic structures he employs are unconventional but reflect his very democratic ideals towards America. Although Whitman’s writing does not include a structure that can be easily outlined, masterfully his writing conforms itself to no style, other then its own universal and unrestricted technique. Even though Whitman’s work does not lend itself to the conventional form of poetry in the way his contemporaries such as Longfellow and Whittier do, it holds a deliberate structure, despite its sprawling style of free association.
Walt Whitman’s hard childhood influenced his work greatly, he was an uneducated man but he managed to become one of the most known poets. Whitman changed poetry through his work and is now often called the father of free verse. Especially through Leaves of Grass he expressed his feelings and sexuality to world and was proud of it. He had a different view at life, his hard childhood, and his sexuality that almost no one understood made him introduce a new universal theme to the world. Almost all critics agree that Walt Whitman was one of the most influential and innovative poet. Karl Shapiro says it best, “The movement of his verses is the sweeping movement of great currents of living people with general government and state”.
Walt Whitman is known for his excellence in writing and poetry during the mid 19th century in American Literature. The Leaves of Grass is one of his more memorable works of literature. The work expresses many thoughts and opinions about art, nature, and early nationalism. It also includes a multitude messages for the readers in an attempt to capture the reader and reinforce his points.Within the Preface of the work he talks about issues that he feels are important to inform his audience before they continue into the literature. These observations made by Whitman signify some importance to him in one way or another. Using his rhetorical skills, Walt Whitman attempts to educate his audience about the importance of self improvement and self awareness
WriteWork contributors. "“Walt Whitman: Appreciation of the Human Body Through Poetry”" WriteWork.com. WriteWork.com, 21 April, 2014. Web. 11 May. 2014.
The homosexual themes displayed in Walt Whitman’s works, especially in his most famous collection of poems Leaves of Grass, raise the question of his own sexuality. Many of his poems depicted affection and sexuality in a simple, personal manner, causing nineteenth century Americans to view them as pornographic and obscene. Based on this poetry, Whitman is usually assumed to be homosexual, or at least bisexual. However, this assumption does not account for major influences of his writing such as the shift from transcendentalism to realism and the American Civil War. After considering these factors, it can be concluded that Whitman’s poems were not intended to set apart a few homosexual men, but to bring all men and women together. Walt Whitman’s poems of spiritual love and physical togetherness of both genders emphasized exalted friendships and are indicative of his omnisexuality, or lack of a complete sexual preference, rather than his alleged homosexuality.
*Whitman, Walt. Song of Myself. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 3rd ed. Ed, Paul Lauter. Boston,NewYork: Houghton Mifflin, 1998.
A recurring theme in Emily Dickinson’s poetry was death. Many years of Emily Dickinson’s adult years consisted of man...
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.
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Shackford, Martha Hale. "The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." The Atlantic Monthly 3.1 (Jan. 1913): 93-97. Rpt. in Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Janet Mullane and Robert Thomas Wilson. Vol. 21. Detroit: Gale Research, 1989. Literature Resource Center. Web. 16 May 2014.