The Cambridge Companion to Emily Dickinson (Cambridge Companions to Literature)

268 Pages·2002·1.52 MB·English

by  Wendy Martin

This page intentionally left blank
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEmilyDickinson
Emily Dickinson, one of the most important American poets of the nine-
teenth century, remains an intriguing and fascinating writer. The Cambridge
CompaniontoEmilyDickinsonincludeselevennewessaysbyaccomplished
Dickinson scholars. They cover Dickinson’s biography, publication history,
poetic themes and strategies, and her historical and cultural contexts. As a
womanpoet,Dickinson’sliterarypersonahasbecomeincrediblyresonantin
the popular imagination. She has been portrayed as singular, enigmatic, and
eveneccentric.Atthesametime,Dickinsoniswidelyacknowledgedasoneof
thefoundersofAmericanpoetry,aninnovativepre-modernistpoetaswellas
a rebellious and courageous woman. This volume introduces new and prac-
ticed readers to a variety of critical responses to Dickinson’s poetry andlife,
andprovidesseveralvaluabletoolsforstudents,includingachronologyand
suggestionsforfurtherreading.

CAMBRIDGE COMPANIONS TO LITERATURE
TheCambridgeCompaniontoGreekTragedy TheCambridgeCompaniontotheClassic
editedbyP.E.Easterling RussianNovel
editedbyMalcolmV.Jonesand
TheCambridgeCompaniontoOldEnglish
RobinFeuerMiller
Literature
editedbyMalcolmGoddenand TheCambridgeCompaniontotheFrench
MichaelLapidge Novel:from1800tothepresent
editedbyTimothyUnwin
TheCambridgeCompaniontoMedieval
Romance TheCambridgeCompaniontoModernism
editedbyRobertaL.Krueger editedbyMichaelLevenson
TheCambridgeCompaniontoMedieval TheCambridgeCompaniontoAustralian
EnglishTheatre Literature
editedbyRichardBeadle editedbyElizabethWebby
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEnglish TheCambridgeCompaniontoAmerican
RenaissanceDrama WomenPlaywrights
editedbyA.R.Braunmullerand editedbyBrendaMurphy
MichaelHattaway
TheCambridgeCompaniontoModern
TheCambridgeCompaniontoRenaissance BritishWomenPlaywrights
Humanism editedbyElaineAstonandJanelleReinelt
editedbyJillKraye
TheCambridgeCompaniontoVirgil
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEnglish editedbyCharlesMartindale
Poetry,DonnetoMarvell
TheCambridgeCompaniontoOvid
editedbyThomasN.Corns
editedbyPhilipHardie
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEnglish
TheCambridgeCompaniontoDante
Literature,1500–1600
editedbyRachelJacoff
editedbyArthurF.Kinney
TheCambridgeCompaniontoGoethe
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEnglish
editedbyLesleySharpe
Literature,1650–1740
editedbyStevenN.Zwicker TheCambridgeCompaniontoProust
editedbyRichardBales
TheCambridgeCompaniontoWritingofthe
EnglishRevolution TheCambridgeCompaniontoThomas
editedbyN.H.Keeble Mann
editedbyRitchieRobertson
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEnglish
RestorationTheatre TheCambridgeCompaniontoChekhov
editedbyDeborahC.PayneFisk editedbyVeraGottliebandPaulAllain
TheCambridgeCompaniontoBritish TheCambridgeCompaniontoIbsen
Romanticism editedbyJamesMcFarlane
editedbyStuartCurran TheCambridgeCompaniontoBrecht
TheCambridgeCompanionto editedbyPeterThomsonand
Eighteenth-CenturyPoetry GlendyrSacks
editedbyJohnSitter TheCambridgeChaucerCompanion
TheCambridgeCompaniontothe editedbyPieroBoitaniandJillMann
Eighteenth-CenturyNovel TheCambridgeCompaniontoShakespeare
editedbyJohnRichetti editedbyMargaretadeGraziaand
TheCambridgeCompaniontoVictorian StanleyWells
Poetry TheCambridgeCompaniontoShakespeare
editedbyJosephBristow Studies
TheCambridgeCompaniontotheVictorian editedbyStanleyWells
Novel TheCambridgeCompaniontoShakespeare
editedbyDeirdreDavid onFilm
TheCambridgeCompaniontoAmerican editedbyRussellJackson
RealismandNaturalism TheCambridgeCompanionto
editedbyDonaldPizer ShakespeareanComedy
TheCambridgeCompanionto editedbyAlexanderLeggatt
Nineteenth-CenturyAmericanWomen’s TheCambridgeCompaniontoShakespeare
Writing onStage
editedbyDaleM.BauerandPhilipGould editedbyStanleyWellsandSarahStanton
TheCambridgeCompaniontoSpenser TheCambridgeCompaniontoHaroldPinter
editedbyAndrewHadfield editedbyPeterRaby
TheCambridgeCompaniontoBenJonson TheCambridgeCompaniontoTomStoppard
editedbyRichardHarpandStanleyStewart editedbyKatherineE.Kelly
TheCambridgeCompaniontoMilton2nded. TheCambridgeCompaniontoHerman
editedbyDennisDanielson Melville
editedbyRobertS.Levine
TheCambridgeCompaniontoSamuel
Johnson TheCambridgeCompaniontoEdith
editedbyGregClingham Wharton
editedbyMillicentBell
TheCambridgeCompaniontoMary
Wollstonecraft TheCambridgeCompaniontoHenryJames
editedbyClaudiaL.Johnson editedbyJonathanFreedman
TheCambridgeCompaniontoKeats TheCambridgeCompaniontoWalt
editedbySusanJ.Wolfson Whitman
editedbyEzraGreenspan
TheCambridgeCompaniontoJaneAusten
editedbyEdwardCopelandand TheCambridgeCompaniontoHenryDavid
JulietMcMaster Thoreau
editedbyJoelMyerson
TheCambridgeCompaniontoCharles
Dickens TheCambridgeCompaniontoMarkTwain
editedbyJohnO.Jordan editedbyForrestG.Robinson
TheCambridgeCompaniontoGeorgeEliot TheCambridgeCompanionto
editedbyGeorgeLevine EdgarAllanPoe
editedbyKevinJ.Hayes
TheCambridgeCompaniontoThomas
Hardy TheCambridgeCompaniontoEmily
editedbyDaleKramer Dickinson
editedbyWendyMartin
TheCambridgeCompaniontoOscarWilde
editedbyPeterRaby TheCambridgeCompaniontoWilliam
Faulkner
TheCambridgeCompaniontoGeorge
editedbyPhilipM.Weinstein
BernardShaw
editedbyChristopherInnes TheCambridgeCompaniontoErnest
Hemingway
TheCambridgeCompaniontoJosephConrad
editedbyScottDonaldson
editedbyJ.H.Stape
TheCambridgeCompaniontoF.Scott
TheCambridgeCompaniontoD.H.
Fitzgerald
Lawrence
editedbyRuthPrigozy
editedbyAnneFernihough
TheCambridgeCompaniontoRobertFrost
TheCambridgeCompaniontoVirginia
editedbyRobertFaggen
Woolf
editedbySueRoeandSusanSellers TheCambridgeCompaniontoEugene
O’Neill
TheCambridgeCompaniontoJamesJoyce
editedbyMichaelManheim
editedbyDerekAttridge
TheCambridgeCompaniontoTennessee
TheCambridgeCompaniontoT.S.Eliot
Williams
editedbyA.DavidMoody
editedbyMatthewC.Roudane´
TheCambridgeCompaniontoEzraPound
TheCambridgeCompaniontoArthurMiller
editedbyIraB.Nadel
editedbyChristopherBigsby
TheCambridgeCompaniontoBeckett
editedbyJohnPilling
CAMBRIDGE COMPANIONS TO CULTURE
TheCambridgeCompaniontoModern TheCambridgeCompaniontoModern
GermanCulture SpanishCulture
editedbyEvaKolinskyand editedbyDavidT.Gies
WilfriedvanderWill
TheCambridgeCompaniontoModern
TheCambridgeCompaniontoModern ItalianCulture
RussianCulture editedbyZygmuntG.Baranskiand
editedbyNicholasRzhevsky RebeccaJ.West
THE CAMBRIDGE
COMPANION TO
EMILY DICKINSON
EDITED BY
WENDY MARTIN
ProfessorofAmericanLiteratureandAmericanStudies
ClaremontGraduateUniversity
  
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge  , United Kingdom
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521806442
© Cambridge University Press 2002
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of
relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place
without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in print format 2002
- 
isbn-13 978-0-511-07381-6 eBook (EBL)
- 
isbn-10 0-511-07381-X eBook (EBL)
- 
isbn-13 978-0-521-80644-2 hardback
- 
isbn-10 0-521-80644-5 hardback
isbn--13 978-0-521-00118-2 paperback
- 
isbn-10 0-521-00118-8 paperback
Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of
s for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
CONTENTS
Notesoncontributors pageix
Acknowledgments xiii
Chronology xiv
Abbreviationsforfrequentlycitedworks xvi
Introduction 1
wendy martin
biography and publication history
1 TheEmilyDickinsonwars 11
betsy erkkila
2 EmilyDickinsonandtheAmericanSouth 30
christopher benfey
3 SusanandEmilyDickinson:theirlives,inletters 51
martha nell smith
poetic strategies and themes
4 EmilyDickinsonandpoeticstrategy 77
wendy barker
5 EmilyDickinson’sexistentialdramas 91
fred d. white
6 PerformancesofgenderinDickinson’spoetry 107
suzanne juhasz and cristanne miller
7 EmilyDickinson:beinginthebody 129
shira wolosky
vii
contents
8 EmilyDickinsonandtheGothicinFascicle16 142
daneen wardrop
cultural contexts
9 EmilyDickinsonandpopularculture 167
david s. reynolds
10 EmilyDickinsonandclass 191
domhnall mitchell
11 EmilyDickinsonandherAmericanwomenpoetpeers 215
paula bernat bennett
Selectbibliography 236
Index 245
viii