EMILY DICKINSON - Research Paper Example

However, it was this lack of human contact and her inability to form relationships that kept her well-behaved and out of trouble, making her a favorite among her relatives, especially her aunt Lavinia. It was this aunt who called attention not only to Dickinson’s quiet demeanor, but also to Dickinson’s affinity for the piano when she was only two years of age. Wanting to encourage Dickinson’s intelligence and musical talent, and because he held education in high regard, Dickinson’s father made sure that his children were properly educated from early ages.

As such, he also played a very active role in their education, always listening with eagerness as his children shared what they had learned. The regular involvement in Dickinson’s life made him a favorite to his children; indeed, it had been noted that Dickinson and her siblings were not very fond of her mother, who was a cold woman. It was her father’s warmth and concern that kept Dickinson inspired to stay in school and hone her talents (Farr 76). During 1845 and 1846, Dickinson had fallen ill, keeping her out of school for almost nine months, yet when she returned, she was more than eager to get back into her studies.

Even during her illness, she made sure to continue reading and writing, never wanting to cease the growth of her intelligence or put her father’s sacrifices for her education to waste. During and after her education, Dickinson continued to write, clearly having found the one thing in life that she wanted to do until her last breath. At the age of eighteen, Dickinson befriended her father’s attorney, Benjamin Franklin Newton, who was amazed by Dickinson’s talents. He introduced her to the works of William Wadsworth and Ralph Waldo Emerson, no doubt with the intent of encouraging her own writing talents.

Newton died before Dickinson had made a name for herself, something that he had longed to see her do, but many of her poems were in written in memory of Newton or had Newton as the subject. As Dickinson entered adulthood, she found herself growing steadily depressed over the many deaths that had plagued her life. She became even more reclusive, though she never gave up her writing. Her father died from a stroke in 1874; though Dickinson didn’t attend his funeral, her father’s death was a catalyst in Dickinson’s life (Baker 209-211).

When her mother died in 1882 from numerous illnesses, Dickinson was pushed further into seclusion, all but shutting herself completely away from the world. Dickinson found herself at an emotional rockbottom later in 1882 after the deaths of two close friends, as well as the death of her favorite nephew, who had died of typhoid fever. Dickinson continued to write poetry, but she stopped editing and organizing her work. Come 1884, Dickinson had grown worn out from all of the deaths that she had experienced, as they all seemed to have come one right after the other.

Dickinson barely had time to grieve over one friend or family member before another died. The summer of 1884, Dickinson herself rapidly grew sick, becoming weak and succumbing to fainting spells. She was bedridden, though she kept up with her writing. Her poems became few, but she had composed a variety of letters to her few remaining friends and family members. Dickinson died on May 15, 1886 from kidney disease, though many people have speculated that Dickinson’