Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson: 

I.  History

During the lifetime of Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and Emily Dickinson (1830-1886), historical background remained the same as discussed in Unit 8.  The differences between the North and South that led to the Civil War and group of minorities finding a voice to speak for their freedom remained a constant in the background of   work of these authors.  Please reread the historical section of Unit 8 and 9 if you would like to refresh your background information..
 

II.  Philosophical/Religious Beliefs

Again, these remained much the same as Unit 8, although transcendentalism, of course, was a direct influence on both of the authors. See Unit 8 again for more information regarding transcendentalism, particularly Emerson who was Walt Whitman's role model. In fact, he sent an autographed copy of his work Leaves of Grass to Emerson before anyone else received a copy.  Throughout his life, Emerson was a profound influence on Whitman.  In fact, both of the authors beliefs on development of the individual and identity were derived from  the basis of transcendentalism.  Whitman was first a journalist for a paper, then a writer of sensationalist fiction, and finally, a poet who could dwell on emotionalism.  Whitman called his poetry "al fresco" poetry as it was outside the boundaries of tradition and convention of previous works.    For additional information on Walt Whitman, please read  Walt Whitman Biography .  There was also a move to oppose the reigning materialism and widespread conformity of American culture by Whitman and Dickinson. They too were trying to urge others to develop an original relationship with the universe, and with the individual himself/herself.  Dickinson, being born into a well to do family,  had to overcome the expectations of this prominent New England family,  and the expectations of the mid-late 19th century culture  with regards to women.  Dickinson was faced with an ambivalent relationship with her very patriarchal father throughout her life.

III.  Culture

As in Unit 8,  family units were still decisively hierarchical and patriarchal.  Conformity was still the norm for the majority of individuals; Whitman and Dickinson appealed for more "individualism" and less conformity to a system that was outdated and passé, they believed.  Women, such as Dickinson, were allowed college educations and held some professional jobs, such as teaching, which she did for a short time.  They were still discriminated against legally and culturally.  Whitman was widely recognized in his time, although most of Dickinson's work was published posthumously by a friend; originally, most of her poems were written as letters, or parts of letters, to her female friend, Susan Gilbert.  Rumors have abounded for years that there was an apparent lesbian relationship with Susan Gilbert, Dickinson's sister-in-law.  While Whitman was well traveled and socially exuberant, Dickinson faced agoraphobia for decades and rarely left her home after she resigned her teaching position.   She has been perceived by many to be a woman well ahead of her time in many respects. Also, please read, for a brief biography, Emily Dickinson .

IV.   Prose/Poetry

        A.  Genre

Poetry was the genre of choice for these two prolific writers. In poetic format, both authors expressed a transcendental vision for their time, using poetry to attempt to reach readers on an emotional level, rather than a logical one.

        B.  Style

• Dashes were used in place of traditional punctuation to direct a reader, to stress certain words and phrases; it also avoided the "finality" of the period; other punctuation is exact.
• Analogies   such as in Dickinson's "Tell the Truth" were used to achieve a transcendental vision of sorts in that Dickinson believed in the more "slanted" rather than concentric circles of Emerson.  She saw herself as self-conceived and  self-born because she had dared as an American woman to write.
• Imagery in both authors' works was lush and detailed to enable the reader to truly picture their visions or extremely stark and almost intimate.  Word choice was vivid, and word order was frequently rearranged.
• Tones used ranged from the skeptical, outraged, reverent,  ironic, etc. yet all were delivered with great passion.
• Diction was simple language of the working class, shown best in Leaves of Grass.  It was sometimes perceived as stark, for example, in Dickinson's poems
• Meter in Dickinson was fluid suggesting through a rhyme scheme mobility and life in motion.
• Whitman's used  more of a  rambling verse, unrhymed and unmetric. Mainly,  he used a didactic teaching tone.
• Thesis and tone were often contradictory in nature:  "Do I contradict myself?" (Whitman) reflects his attempt to illustrate the influence of the grand diversity in America.  Dickinson does the same in contemplating death as life, etc.

Whitman saw all religious ecstasy as equally valid, and consequently, he held in higher esteem  the value of men and women.  His other  writings include:

• nature
• self-expression
• the body and self as being "divine" in a sense; led  to some works dealing with sex where he attempts to describe the bodies and emotions of both people , "merging within" them.  He firmly believed that all the parts of the body had an influential relationship of the whole body.
• anti-slavery as in the introduction  to "Leaves of Grass" where he, the author, puts himself between the master and the slave

• life and death; she believed that the church had lied about God's righteousness and justice, and had, therefore, equivocated about death.  She said that society would make her lie about herself if she followed its current customs.
• time and eternity often juxtaposing the church's proscribed view(s) and hers.
• nature, regarding the beauty of nature and our interaction, or lack of interaction, with it.
• pain was a taboo subject in her time; she refused to accept the Calvinistic teachings of her time that she had earned pain through original sin; she also refused the transcendental view that pain could be overcome through denial or euphemisms.
• madness, almost bordering on despair,  was a common theme of Dickinson's in which tracking one's experiences, such as hers, she believed, would lead to visionary insights.
• the body was a concern with her as it was with Whitman.  She was uninterested in the physical body instead believing that one could transcend ones own limitations (#328) or despairs that one cannot (#465).  Many poems begin with an image from nature, which she attempts to transcend from the bodily state.

• Personas, especially apparent in Dickinson, which ranged from a child (often a boy), a wife-to-be, woman rejected, and voice of authority, all associated with maleness.  Whitman's ranged from himself to everyman.
• "I" , and therefore, everyman as Whitman utilized the self as the main "character" is his works.   The poet as kind of a democratic spokesperson who speaks not just from the intellect, but from , and with,  the entire body, outside of nature.

   Last Updated: Feb., 2006
    Patricia Hutchins
    http://www.delta.edu/pahutchi/dickiwhitm.html