‘Much Madness is Divinest Sense’ is written by Emily Dickinson, a well-known American poet. Her name has notably gained an immense attraction to magnificent audiences in the 19th century.
Dickenson’s writings were enormously praised for her artistic design and bold visualization which have successfully gained their position in the professional sphere due to the efficient formulation of her enigmatic thoughts and perspectives.
The poem was written somewhere around the 1890s, but just like her other poetries even “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” failed to publish before her death.
Dickenson very boldly speaks against the narrow societal norms where she magnificently states that every person needs to have an eye, a “discerning Eye” by which the person will be able to secure an ability to imagine independently and clearly of the mass.
Thus, there are various things that people consider to be incomprehensible but are perfectly sensible whereas several scenarios or concepts are referred to as normal but in a real sense, it is devoid of meaning.
Summary
In the poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense,” Emily Dickinson with her brilliance and enigmatic perspectives addresses the unrealistic notions of society. She artistically points out the gap between the people residing in the power structure of the society with that of the commoners.
The poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” wonderfully portrays the uncanny notions of a society existing in a surrounding where people can be turned mad if raised voices against the convection and those who rely on such dictates are referred to as the sane and intelligent figures of the club.
The events or certain circumstances which are considered crazy or mad are completely reasonable and composed of sensible connections and issues that may demolish the power of the people residing on their individual pedestals.
People must start to look at the sphere independently, raising their heads held high and the power and right of knowledge and reasoning should be acquired as every person has the right to stand for one’s own living instead of being a puppet in the hands of the ruling class.
Dickenson with her astounding usage of words upholds the structure where the events that are considered to be normal are completely crazy as they are being accepted by the power holders who later initiated his countrymen to follow the same path.
If a society relies upon the ruling class to bring out the perfect judgment, then the entire society will remain underprivileged as those who form the conviction will never allow the people to question or reason their formulation.
Thus, it will hinder the circuit of enlightenment among the people in society. As soon as your assent to the inadequate dictates of the administration, you will be allowed to remain and be a part of the society else you are immediately looked after as a threat or a person who beholds the capability to bring destruction into the system.
Thus, chaining up such figures would be the only way to get rid of such a menacing act.
Analysis
Emily Dickinson very efficiently portrays the uncanny regulations of society and begins the poem in a paradoxical tone. She states that what seems mad for the society if cultivated appropriately would appear to be the one that makes an absolute “divinest sense”.
But the majority residing in the society will not undertake such conception as they are all busy maintaining the status quo. They have been trained minutely following the pattern of those acquiring the major position in their surrounding. The minority club fails to stand in front of the majority circle.
Society thinks that the sanity they are following is a mental illness. Dickenson uses several dashes capitalizing certain words. Dashes are usually meant for pausing after a certain scenario in which a reader can successfully fetch their concentration, especially emphasizing important terms to cultivate an exact meaning of the same.
In the next stanza of the poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” Emily Dickinson magnificently visualizes her approach towards the administration which is entirely corrupted disabling the ability of a person to discover what is true in the perfect sense.
The majority circle has been trained and initiated so powerfully that they cannot visualize any other concept except that of the declaration of the status quo. The powerful structure of the society has tactfully sown the seeds due to which the majority of the population is found chanting the dictates of the administration without having any judgment of their own.
Therefore, they are referred to as sane and supreme but once you ‘demur’ you appear to be a threat to society. The officials of the administration have formulated several ways to hinder the path of the minority circle. They are either chained or imprisoned.
Dickenson astonishingly portrays her artistic poetical capability that raising a voice against the formulation of the administration is not only difficult rather impossible if not achieved with the assistance of the majority circle.
Structure
Emily Dickinson in her poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” forms a structure that upholds the grievances of the society. The poem is comprised of eight lines connecting every line in a single verse. The lines fail to use a respective scheme for each but a reader will be able to encounter several half-rhyme and full-rhyme schemes.
In the poem, ‘eye’ at the end of the second line and ‘majority ‘ at the end of the fourth concluding line provides a clear example of half or a slanting rhyme scheme.
At the end of the sixth and eighth lines, the term ‘chain’ and ‘sane’ induced by Emily Dickinson creates a description of a full rhyme scheme. But it fails to retain an exact metrical pattern just like the metaphorical scheme that is being executed dramatically in the poem.
Literary Devices
Dickinson in the poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” efficiently applies several literary devices which include caesura, and alliteration. The enjambment has been introduced in such a way that an appropriate continuation of a sentence in a verse exists without any pause or beyond the conclusion of any verse or stanza.
Enjambment enables a reader to shift to the next line and continue the pace without facing any obstacle. In the poem lines, numbers four and five are a good example of the usage of enjambment.
Alliteration occurs with words designed to execute in a succession or at times appear close to one another proclaiming a similar sound. For example- the term ‘much’ and ‘madness’ in the first and third lines and ‘Demur’ and ‘dangerous’ in line number seven are a perfect pattern of alliteration in the poem.
We can find the appearance of Caesura when a line is divided in half. Often it discloses with punctuation and such instances create an intentional pause in the poem. It is basically generated to allow a reader to consider the importance of a pause in a rhythm which turns a major transition in the piece.
For Example- line number three in the poem has been incorporated with the terms “Much Sense- the Starkest Madness” and “Demur- you’re straightway dangerous” in line number seven can be considered as an astonishing example of caesura.
Theme
Madness versus True Sense
In the poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense”, Emily Dickinson has induced the theme of madness which is just the opposite of common sense. She effectively designs the term ‘true sense’ or sanity which is referred to as ambiguous in the poem as it prefers to collect several definitions from its respective setting.
It is quite obvious to depict that what is sane in your surrounding can be insane or may fail to acquire a true sense in another society. Thus, such a passage of time and connectivity beholds the capability to alter an exact sense of a sentence altogether providing it with a new visionary.
Dickenson wonderfully portrays how the majority of society recognizes which lines should a surrounding consider sane and what sort of conversation must be neglected. Such a proclamation is always performed by the majority and the rest of the community had to abide by their declaration.
If anyone dares to object, they would have been spurned to retain the goal of the group intact. Just because the majority supports such evil norms, the people who behold the courage of speaking the exact exploitation fail to achieve victory. Dickenson also addresses that people can never appreciate the true sense as they are busy maintaining the status quo.
They prefer to follow the flow so that the chain and the unity remain intact and they are being termed as sane and happily accepted as part of the society. The approval of the majority creates obstacles for the minority circle as they fail to acquire a position with their views in the professional sphere and are initially marked as crazy.
The formulation of the judgment of the minority that is gradually monitored through society’s notions of sanity lies in the “divinest sense” which refers to something holy which combines and forms a perfect structure that can stand as a threat in front of the majority club. However, it concludes by spreading awareness among those minority groups.
Such groups before outbreaking their revolutionary ideas must keep themselves aware of the fact that questioning the majority of the status quo is not easy rather it can immediately turn the circle slightly dangerous as the minority group will enable the mind of the majority to fight to secure their status quo. Society beholds several cruel ways to control such figures.
The powerful structure will chain, and imprison the minorities which will disable their formation thoroughly. Hence, challenging the conceptions of the majority is not only impossible but rather dangerous.
FAQs
In Emily Dickinson’s poem, ‘Much Madness is Divinest Sense’ what is the exact tone of the poem?
The poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” is comprised of three important perspectives. The poem begins with a fit of anger, hope, and disapproval of Emily Dickinson toward the biased society which initiates her to form a rebellion against such inequitable notions following her terror of turning mad from a sensible human being due to the measures taken by the detrimental society.
What are the literary devices in a story?
A literary device is an artistic technique that is used by writers to express their astounding thoughts. The devices initiate the authors to convey the importance of a particular line and highlight the major themes to gain the reader’s attention equivalently in a text.
Explain the meaning of two paradoxes existing in the first three lines of the verse.
The apparent discrepancies of the first three lines of the poem “Much Madness are “Divinest Sense “are- 1) People who are referred to as mad and lacking sense carry sense in their conversation. 2) People who speak logically are neglected and proved to be mad. 3) Dissenters who perform against the standard of a society are considered the ones who restrain the ‘divinest’ sense.
What are the themes demonstrated in the poem ‘Much Madness is Divinest Sense’ by Emily Dickinson?
The poem deals especially with two themes sanity and madness. What is sane for our society may be madness for the person living in another society. Thus, it depends on the definition and acceptance of the society that you are residing in.
What kind of figurative language has been dramatically incorporated by Emily Dickinson in ‘Much Madness is Divinest Sense’?
The entire poem “Much Madness is Divinest Sense” is a metaphor as Dickenson addresses very dramatically that if any person disagrees with the notions proclaimed in society then that person is treated as an enemy and they are automatically portrayed as a mad person. Emily Dickinson is trying to uphold the narrow prejudices of the society framed by the figures who are acquiring a position in the power structure of the nation and not even a single person attains the audacity to raise a voice against their miserable proclamation and certainly, they are referred to as sane but if anyone dares to point out the inaccuracy then that person will be turned mad and cruelly banished from the society.