I think that most of Emily Dickinson’s poems reflected an aspect of her personality or beliefs. However, I think that one that was probably most representative of who she was, was “The Soul Selects her own Society”. In the poem she says “The Soul selects her own Society /Then — shuts the Door —/To her divine Majority —/Present no more-” (Dickinson). The poem speaks of a person who has separated themselves from society. However, they do not cut themselves of fully whether they become extremely selective in who they will allow into their personal bubble. They subconsciously choose who they want to know and once they do this, then they shut the rest of the world out.
This is true of Dickenson because when she was in her twenties she began to distance herself from society and by the time she was in her thirties she barely left her room. She chose to be a reclusive for the rest of her life. She only let a few people have face to face contact with her. Most of her communication was through letters and cracked doors. Even when the doctor came to see he when she had taken ill. He had to diagnose her through a cracked door. Besides the correspondence she would keep with her friends, she would also send baked goods down to the neighborhood children using pulleys.
Emily goes on to say that she is resolute in her wish to be alone, saying “Unmoved —/ she notes the Chariots — pausing —/At her low Gate —/Unmoved — an Emperor be kneelin--/
Upon her Mat —” (Dickinson). Here she is saying that even though people will seek to gain access to her or to get her to come out of her seclusion. She will be unmoved by their pleas and promises because she is steadfast in her decision to separate herself from society. This conviction is indicated by the fact that she is willing to ignore both the chariot which may carry potential lovers or at least adventure and the Emperor that is upon his knees on her mat. This unwillingness to allow herself the opportunity to engage with adventure, love or royalty shows that she has retreated inside herself. It also tells the reader that it is her own choice.
In Stanza three, Dickinson speaks of finality of the soul’s choice to separate from society. She wrote “I’ve known her — from an ample nation —/Choose One —/Then — close the Valves of her attention —/Like Stone--” (Dickinson). This indicates that once the choice was made to separate herself from the rest of the world. That it was not just something that she could reverse. She had gone from a place where she was pretty well educated and enjoyed the benefits of society life. This included social gatherings and meetings to being someone that visitors talked about in hushed tones when they had left. So she had essentially gone from a “ample nation” (Dickinson) to choosing one, which was herself. The fact that “Valves” is capitalized seems to indicate that she was speaking of her heart. Then she says “Like Stone” again both capitalized, as though she was saying that her heart is hardened. This does not seem to indicate that she was saying that she no longer cared for anyone, but that she had hardened herself against the reaction that her reclusiveness would bring from others.
In conclusion the poem as a whole speaks of Emily’s decision too separate herself from society, despite the fact that she was aware of the effect that it will have on her life. This is because most people are by nature social creatures, who thrive off of the attention and validation that they receive from others. Plus, being unsociable in polite society would not have been appropriate behavior for a woman, during Dickinson’s time.
http://www.edickinson.org/collections I found this site interesting because it has handwritten manuscripts of her poems and letters.
Works Cited
Dickinson, Emily. "The Soul Selects Her Own Society (303) | Academy of American Poets." Poets.org | Academy of American Poets. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 July 2016.
