Nothing in life is guaranteed, but the one thing that humans demand is freedom. Throughout history, there are countless cases where groups of people fought for their freedom. They fought their battles in strongly heated debates, protests, and at its worst, war. Under the assumption that the oppressors live in complete power, the oppressed continuously try to escape from their oppressors in order to claim what is rightfully theirs: the freedom of choice. In Emily Dickinson’s poems #280, #435, and #732 and Harriet Jacobs’s Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, freedom is represented by an individual’s ability to make their own decisions without the guidance, consultation, or outside opinion of others in order to find their true sense of self. Once an individual is physically and spiritually free, they can find their true sense of self.
In Emily Dickinson’s poem #280, “I Felt a Funeral, in my Brain”, she compares her state of depression and madness with a funeral. In a predominant male society, Dickinson feels trapped in a coffin, where she is unable to make any decisions on her own. The women’s role in society during her time was to be a good “Angel of the House”, to be a good housewife. This captivity is the cause of her depression, which in turn causes her to slowly lose her sense of self. The “Mourners” seem to be the majority of society who demands her to take up her part in society as a respectable young woman. This peer pressure seems to draw her in:
“Kept treading – treading – till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through –
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum –
Kept beating – beating – till I thought
My Mind was going numb
In the end, she decides to accept the limitations of her freedom and give...
... middle of paper ...
... her. Linda does not only defy Flint but also her grandmother by disregarding her grandmother’s advice to abandon her plan. “I resolved to leave them that night…and nothing less than the freedom of my children would have induced me to disregard her [the grandmother’s] advice. Linda’s decision to continue on with her plan for freedom in the northern states, which she obtains in the end, for the sake of her children show that she found her true sense of self as a mother.
In conclusion, Emily Dickinson and Harriet Jacobs found their true sense of self as a free woman by deciding to be different from the conventions of society and go their own path to freedom. Once an individual finds their true sense of self, they will acknowledge their qualities and limitations and use them to challenge themselves, which will help them to gain respect for their individual humanity.
What is freedom? This question is easy enough to answer today. To many, the concept of freedom we have now is a quality of life free from the constraints of a person or a government. In America today, the thought of living a life in which one was “owned” by another person, seems incomprehensible. Until 1865 however, freedom was a concept that many African Americans only dreamed of. Throughout early American Literature freedom and the desire to be free has been written and spoken about by many. Insight into how an African-American slave views freedom and what sparks their desire to receive it can be found in any of the “Slave Narratives” of early American literature, from Olaudah Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African published in 1789, to Frederick Douglass’s Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave, Written by Himself which was published in 1845. Phillis Wheatley’s poetry and letters and Martin R. Delany’s speech Political Destiny of the Colored Race in the American Continent also contain examples of the African-American slaves’ concepts of freedom; all the similarities and differences among them.
Ultimately, I believe Linda Brent’s somatic rights was more important to her than anything. She grew up knowing full well that as a woman, her body automatically belonged to someone else; whether it be her master or whatever mate he chose for her. Linda continuously fought and rebelled against this notion. Although she could have had a nice and comfortable cottage to herself being Dr. Flint’s mistress, she chose the opposite and more challenging path because along with that cottage would come the constant torment of owing her body to him. Linda sacrificed everything to be free from this distress, including going into hiding and isolating herself for 7 years.
Few years later, the mistress died and Linda was sent to Dr. Flint. Dr. Flint abuses his power as a slave owner to get what he wants, such as trying to get Linda to sleep with him. Another example of him abusing his power is when Linda stated, “I was made for his use, made to obey his command in everything; that I was nothing but a slave, whose will must and should surrender to his…” However, Linda had no intention of submitting to Dr. Flint’s control. Although Dr. Flint owns her body, she can still remain spiritually free. She lives in a time of slavery, but she still hold the hopeful thought of someday of being really free. Linda was different among all the slaves. She has the power to control her life in a way. She had an affair with a white neighbor and has two kids. However, because she was afraid Dr. Flint would do something to her kids after he finds out, she decides to hide in the attic for seven years. During those seven years, Dr. Flint spent countless of days and money to track her. This shows Dr. Flint has a deeper feeling towards Linda rather than just a slave. Linda have lived her life in confinement, yet she does not give up hoping one day she will provide a home for her
Freedom has been the cause of wars, political movements, and centuries of debate. The concept of freedom is simple. Freedom is the right to act, speak, or think without hindrance. In our contemporary society, the right to freedom is so basic and innate we struggle to even fathom life without our basic rights. However, less than 200 years ago slavery was legal in the United States. Slavery is the antithesis to freedom, depriving people of the most basic rights and placing them at the whim of their owners. Frederick Douglas, possibly “the most famous and respected African American in the United States for much of the nineteenth century,” details his life as a slave in America (Douglas, 24). Douglas goes on throughout his autobiography to detail
Linda’s grandmother, Aunt Martha was arguably the most significant family member that aided in her liberation of a slave, but also played a role in the delay of Linda’s escape. Martha provided shelter and protection for Linda as Dr. Flint sought after her. As Dr. Flint assaults Linda at her grandmother’s home, Martha exclaims “Get out of my house… you will have enough to do, without watching my family.”(pg 70) As Dr. Flint exercised his tyranny onto Linda, Martha could not stand by and watch. Throughout Linda’s experience of a slave, her grandmother treated her as if she was her own daughter. This led to Linda
The life led by Emily Dickinson was one secluded from the outside world, but full of color and light within. During her time she was not well known, but as time progressed after her death more and more people took her works into consideration and many of them were published. Dickinson’s life was interesting in its self, but the life her poems held, changed American Literature. Emily Dickinson led a unique life that emotionally attached her to her writing and the people who would read them long after she died.
Shynn Felarca Mrs. Cox English Honors-Period 5 Due Date: 20 November 2015 Emily Elizabeth Dickinson A while back there were many poems and poets. Like Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, a romantic poet who put many deep meanings behind her poems, even if her poems were all mostly about death. When she was alive she was an unknown poet, but throughout the years she became well known.
Emily Dickinson is one of the great visionary poets of nineteenth century America. In her lifetime, she composed more poems than most modern Americans will even read in their lifetimes. Dickinson is still praised today, and she continues to be taught in schools, read for pleasure, and studied for research and criticism. Since she stayed inside her house for most of her life, and many of her poems were not discovered until after her death, Dickinson was uninvolved in the publication process of her poetry. This means that every Dickinson poem in print today is just a guess—an assumption of what the author wanted on the page. As a result, Dickinson maintains an aura of mystery as a writer. However, this mystery is often overshadowed by a more prevalent notion of Dickinson as an eccentric recluse or a madwoman. Of course, it is difficult to give one label to Dickinson and expect that label to summarize her entire life. Certainly she was a complex woman who could not accurately be described with one sentence or phrase. Her poems are unique and quite interestingly composed—just looking at them on the page is pleasurable—and it may very well prove useful to examine the author when reading her poems. Understanding Dickinson may lead to a better interpretation of the poems, a better appreciation of her life’s work. What is not useful, however, is reading her poems while looking back at the one sentence summary of Dickinson’s life.
Although Emily Dickinson was a private person throughout her life, some critics gave a negative view to her work. For example, the work of “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” is dissenting toward the nineteenth century woman. Critics imply that this work of Dickinson had a negative influence on marriage and independent women. They believe the proper place for a woman was beside her husband, but a husbandless woman, according to Dickinson, was uncertain of herself. Although the independent woman has a life, she is literally speaking through a grave. She has been deceived, driven to her death, and has been abandoned.
Emily Dickinson lived in an era of Naturalism and Realism (1855-1910). She lived in a period of The Civil War and the Frontier. She was affected by her life and the era she lived in. She also had many deaths in her family and that’s part of the reason that she was very morbid and wrote about death.
On December 10, 1830, a cold winter day, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was brought into the world. Emily lived on Maine street in a lovely brick home, which they called the “Homestead.” Emily had an older brother named Austin. She also had a younger sister, who was born three years after her, her name was Livina. The first school that Emily attended was a school right down the road from her house. This was the first education that she received. This was the school that her father wanted her to attend. This is also where Emily’s writing career began (Borus: 9-14).
“Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks, feels, or believes.” was one of Emily Dickinson’s most famous quotes, showing much of her swaying from Romanticism to a more Realistic view, and changing the standards of writing along with it. Between 1858 and 1864 Emily Dickinson wrote over forty hand bound volumes of nearly 1800 poems, yet during her lifetime only a few were published. Perhaps this is why today we see Dickinson as a highly influential writer, unlike those during her time who did not see the potential. Emily Dickinson wrote most of her works towards the end of the romanticism era, but considered more of a realist, ahead of her time and one to shape the new movement. The main characteristic of Romanticism that Dickinson portrays in her writing emphases of the importance of nature to the Romantics, but she is known as a Realist because of her concern and fascination with death, and the harsh realities of life. Emily Dickinson’s upbringing and early education, along with living in reclusion with death all around her, greatly influenced on of the greatest female poets of all time.
Literary Analysis of Emily Dickinson's Poetry. Emily Dickinson is one of the most famous authors in American history, and a good amount of that can be attributed to her uniqueness in writing. In Emily Dickinson's poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she characterizes her overarching theme of Death differently than it is usually described through the poetic devices of irony, imagery, symbolism, and word choice. Emily Dickinson likes to use many different forms of poetic devices and Emily's use of irony in poems is one of the reasons they stand out in American poetry. In her poem 'Because I could not stop for Death,' she refers to 'Death' in a good way.
Emily Dickinson was infatuated with death and sought after it only to try and help
Emily Dickinson was an American poet, born in Massachusetts on December 10, 1830. Emily later fell in love with a married preacher. He then, moved away with his family. It has been said that after that happened Emily became a recluse. Emily’s poems are unique because she uses unusual punctuation, for example she used dashes in place of commas. Although, her poems were very good she made her family promise her that they would burn them after she died. Emily died on May 15, 1886, her family then decided they would publish all of her poems. She wrote almost 1800 poems in total. Her poems often had themes of death and some of her poems were about love too.