Friday, February 16, 2007
Midterm # 2, Dickinson
Katja
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 21, Dickinson
16 February, 2007
"’Faith’ is a fine invention When Gentlemen can see – / But Microscopes are prudent In an Emergency / " (Emily Dickinson 172)
"She rose to His Requirement—dropt The Playthings of Her Life / To take the honorable Work Of Woman, and of Wife— / " (Emily Dickinson 191)
The first quote above shows the poem # 185 in its entirety. Unlike Sarah Winnemucca, Emily Dickinson questioned her faith. Interested in science, an exploding field during the Victorian era, Dickinson became wary of the fundamentalist and misogynist views of religious doctrine. The observational and empirical techniques used in the sciences served as springboards for Dickinson’s extensive questioning and doubt into her own faith.
Dickinson points to faith as the brainchild of mankind, and a contrivance of convenience. Indirectly, Dickinson offers the idea that science, then, may be the innovation of womankind, an altogether more pragmatic approach to existence. The paradox of this notion is of course that Dickinson did not lead the life of the average American woman, she did not toil with endless chores and children from sun-up to sundown, but like the men she is ridiculing, spent her time ruminating the deeper contexts of life.
For Dickinson, faith and feminism formed a contentious relationship. Traditional female roles, promoted by the church, were completely ignored by Dickinson, and often criticized in her poetry. In poem # 732, the source of the second quote, she equates husband with God, and grieves the woman’s loss of her ‘Playthings" (191) in order to rise to the subservient "honorable Work" (191) expected of her. By not fulfilling these standards herself she stood out as a radical role model for her peers, a position she may have personally struggled with. Urging her readers to use their own "Microscopes" (172) to examine their situations was a controversial statement that questioned not only how women lived, but also why.
ENGL 48 B
Journal # 21, Dickinson
16 February, 2007
"’Faith’ is a fine invention When Gentlemen can see – / But Microscopes are prudent In an Emergency / " (Emily Dickinson 172)
"She rose to His Requirement—dropt The Playthings of Her Life / To take the honorable Work Of Woman, and of Wife— / " (Emily Dickinson 191)
The first quote above shows the poem # 185 in its entirety. Unlike Sarah Winnemucca, Emily Dickinson questioned her faith. Interested in science, an exploding field during the Victorian era, Dickinson became wary of the fundamentalist and misogynist views of religious doctrine. The observational and empirical techniques used in the sciences served as springboards for Dickinson’s extensive questioning and doubt into her own faith.
Dickinson points to faith as the brainchild of mankind, and a contrivance of convenience. Indirectly, Dickinson offers the idea that science, then, may be the innovation of womankind, an altogether more pragmatic approach to existence. The paradox of this notion is of course that Dickinson did not lead the life of the average American woman, she did not toil with endless chores and children from sun-up to sundown, but like the men she is ridiculing, spent her time ruminating the deeper contexts of life.
For Dickinson, faith and feminism formed a contentious relationship. Traditional female roles, promoted by the church, were completely ignored by Dickinson, and often criticized in her poetry. In poem # 732, the source of the second quote, she equates husband with God, and grieves the woman’s loss of her ‘Playthings" (191) in order to rise to the subservient "honorable Work" (191) expected of her. By not fulfilling these standards herself she stood out as a radical role model for her peers, a position she may have personally struggled with. Urging her readers to use their own "Microscopes" (172) to examine their situations was a controversial statement that questioned not only how women lived, but also why.
# posted by Katja @ 11:41 AM 
