Below I have the poem 401 by Emily Dickinson that I have analyzed and adored. I have been reading about Emily and her work in my English class and she has really sparked an interest in me. Her poetry is so complex that you need to read and decode each line one by one. Emily grew up in a time where society thought of women as just mothers and wives. They had no real purpose in society but to serve their husband and raise their children. Higher education and societal recognition were completely forbidden. Emily had a different idea for women and their role in society. Emily went outside her gender role by the way she lived and her ideas expressed through her words in her poetry.
This poem by Emily can be looked at as a criticism towards the women of her society at that time. She beings the poem by mocking women and describing them as these soft and delicate creatures of Earth. the poem goes on to make fun of these women who are trying to live the gender role of their society by looking the prettiest and acting in certain ways that are restricted to them by men. Emily describes them as freckles in society. These fake women are fake and they taint the meaning of women. Emily wants these "brittle" women to be ashamed of themselves for being someone they are not.
I LOVE THIS POEM!
401
"What Soft -- Cherubic Creatures --
These Gentlewomen are --
One would as soon assault a Plush --
Or violate a Star --
Such Dimity Convictions --
A Horror so refined
Of freckled Human Nature --
Of Deity -- ashamed --
It’s such a common -- Glory --
A Fisherman’s -- Degree --
Redemption -- Brittle Lady --
Be so -- ashamed of Thee --"
-Emily Dickinson
That is so true a lot of her work shows how important she was in the time of her work. I think she did a great job showing how important women really are in society.
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