On Emily Dickinson's Poem #435

Yuen M. Ho
English 48B
January 24, 2007
Journal #12 Emily Dickinson

I. Quote

“Much madness is divinest sense—
To a discerning eye—
Much sense – the starkest madness—
‘Tis the majority
In this, as all, prevail—
Assent – and you are sane—
Demur—you’re straightway dangerous—
And handled with a chain—”

II. Summary

The poem revolves around two major themes of sense and madness. In Dickinson’s view, sense indeed represents madness; madness is really sense. If you agree with her, then you have sense; but if you disagree, then you are likely to be mad.

Emily Dickinson plays around with words related to these two concepts in this short poem consisting of merely eight lines. In line six, the word “sane”, which means rational, prompts readers to immediately relate to “sense.” In line seven and eight, the mentioning of “dangerous” and “handled with a chain” also reminds readers of the common treatment of people deemed to be mad.

III. Response

This short poem elicits my speculation with regard to the myth of why Dickinson stayed in her room all the time. One possible explanation is that Dickinson had certain kind of emotional or mental disorder. But there may also be possibility that she was suspected to have disorder, and was thus judged harshly and discriminated by the society, contributing to her solitary life. This latter assumption may shed some light to the understanding of this poem. She used her words as a way to resent the societal standard of madness. She was protesting against the label given to her, and in turn named those people, who regarded her as mad but they as sensible, as mad and “dangerous.” Few people understood her at that time, and she apparently wished to gain rapport and understanding from them.