In their works, both Mrs. Mallard and Emily Dickinson discuss the notion of being a woman during highly patriarchal times. Living in a patriarchal society, both describe being married or associated with their man as suffocating and limiting. While Mrs. Mallard is relieved to hear of her husband’s death, Dickinson also sees being a wife’s role as limiting. It is apparent from her poem that she feels lost or depressed in her new role of being a wife; “If aught she missed in her new day. Of amplitude or awe. Or first prospective, or the gold. In using wore away, It lay unmentioned, as the sea. Develops pearl and weed,” In entering the life of marriage, the woman leaves all her ‘playthings’ behind to be a wife instead- it automatically connects to the sense of losing oneself. Therefore, both authors explore the powerful theme of womanhood and identity in patriarchal societies.
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One thought on “Tamar Abelson Discussion 9”
Hello Tamar,
Thank you for sharing your post with us. The post was very informative and well-organized. I agree with you that Emily Dickinson discusses the notion of being a woman during patriarchal times. Moreover, Most of Emily Dickinson’s poetry comments directly on the roles and experiences of women in a patriarchal society.
She found herself within a time period where women were primarily raised to be the accommodating housewife, bound to the household duties of everyday life and social conventions created by a patriarchal society, But, Emily Dickinson managed to break away from these social conventions primarily through her writing and poetry.