Contribution of Emily Dickinson in American Literature

Contribution of Emily Dickinson in American Literature
It is said that maturation of American letters first took place during the era of American Romanticism, which is also called the American Renaissance era. As stated by Woodlief, during this era, “excitement over human possibilities, and a high regard for individual ego.” It was the time when the natural goodness of man was the primary belief of American people. They were of the notions that natural goodness comes in natural environment and in such circumstances, man would behave well. Another school of thought in that era suggested that surrounding environment of a person can hinder his thought process. During that era, faith in emotion, spontaneity, and sincerity were the key markers of truth and relations. Romantic Movement was the era during which the value of self-expression was higher than self-presentation and others’ perceptions about one’s self. People belonged to Romanticism era contemplated nature as a source of inspiration, pleasure, and the way of quenching one’s thirst for understanding and acquaintance. Writers of that era found their inspiration and wisdom in nature. Most of them often focus on comparing the amusing simplicity of nature with the unnatural societal constraints in their write-ups.
The era discussed above ranged between 1828 and 1865; and, it was the time in America when the country experienced independence for the very first time as it had set itself apart from the Great Britain. This sense of independence had immensely influenced the individuality and uniqueness of new writers and artists of America in their work. The fire of creativity ignited among the people of that era that led them to tremendous cultural growth that gave birth to the modernized and organized America of today.
The eminence of the Romanticism movement was nurtured by the poetic majesty depicting nature; flourished by imagery, irony, and originality in literature; and by the topics highlighting freedom and equality against guilt and salvation. Woodlief has written in his research on Romanticism movement, “The American brand of romanticism developed its own character, especially as these writers tried self-consciously to be new and original.” Other researchers contemplate that the primary reason behind the success of this movement is the amount of creativity and uniqueness with cultural growth given to American literature and art. Woodlief said that the movement tremendously depicted practical that included “the essential of making a living and establishing political independence had been squared.” The majority of researchers said that period from1850-1855 was the “glory years” in that movement which is surprisingly a short period of time but extensive work had been done during this period. Like other writers and poets, the work of Emily Dickinson had greatly impacted the American Romanticism. She had embellished American literacy with her imagery, wisdom and creativity to give new meanings of life. Reviewers say that the work contributed by Dickinson has left a mark of distinctiveness on American literature. During the peak of her poetic career, she wrote a number of poems but only quite a few poems were published. However, soon after her death, Lavinia, Emily’s sister, found the collection of her old work, which she took to a friend who was a publisher too. In 1890 the very first poetic compilation of Emily’s work was published. Initially Lavinia was a bit hesitant about publishing Emily’s work. However, the response publisher got after the publication of Emily’s work was very surprising as the first volume became tremendously popular and the demand for more volumes of Dickinson’s magnificent poetic works came from the entire America.
Emily Dickinson has written on verity of subjects that ranged from elaboration on nature to depth of religion. In addition to that, a number of her poems written lately in her career also involved the complexity along with the necessity of faith. In her poem, called “a comic valentine”, she has displayed wit that “would later be so prominent a feature of her mature verse” (Waggoner 2004). Despite the fact that there was traditional touch in her work, her poetries are also full of some unconventional, “nonliterary” forms of writing available.
A poem, called Because I could not stop for Death, explains the clear gestures of Romanticism in quite elegant ways. In her first stanza, she says, “Because I could not stop for death, he kindly stopped for me; the carriage held but just ourselves and immortality.” This is a true depiction of characteristics of literature in that era. Dickinson’s poems are full of themes related with human mortality. Dickinson usually found to inquire about what lies beyond death in most of her poems. All these characteristics of Dickinson’s works relate her directly with the subjects popular in romanticism era. All in all, it would not be erroneous to establish here that Dickinson’s work clearly depicts her eagerness for knowledge and wisdom, especially her desire to know what comes next – and eternity.

Works cited
Waggoner, Hyatt H. (2004). “Emily Dickinson.” Encyclopedia Americana. Pages 80-81.
Woodlief, Ann. “American Romanticism.” August 31, 2013