Emily Dickinson's background and its significance

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson, an American poet who is "often described misleadingly as a 'virgin recluse' and a 'partially cracked poetess' (her own phrase) is now widely regarded as on of America's 19th century genius of letters" (Morehouse 618). Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst Massachusetts to Edward Dickinson (a prominent lawyer, and later Congressman) and Emily Norcross Dickinson, and died May 15, 1886 in Amherst also. Her death certificate indicates that her occupation "at home" (Eberwein 563), an ambiguous title. Dickinson led a reclusive lifestyle, living most of her life on the Dickinson Homestead. Despite this, her poetry brilliantly reflects an inner creative inspiration. This is demonstrated when, in a conversation to her mentor Thomas Wentworth Higginson in 1870, she says "I find ecstasy in livingñthe mere sense of living is joy enough" (Kennedy and Goia 369).

Dickinson grew up in a New England environment, which emphasized the close bonds between relig...