Emily Dickinson and the Analysis of Twelfth Night

Question 4

Casting your-self as the famous recluse Emily Dickinson (read up a bit on her biography), respond to Twelfth Night’s take on love and its entanglements. (You might, for example, try to imagine whom she would have found more appealing: Viola or Olivia).

Introduction

Based on several literary writings, it is true and evident that Emily Dickinson is one of the most highly regarded poets, especially due to his writing style and subjects (Emily Dickinson, 2016).  To begin with, it is true that Emily Dickinson life and activities mainly revolve around poetry.  Emily Dickinson was born in late 1830 in England, particularly in a town called Amherst, Massachusetts. Her parents were small scale farmers and in her life she was adored by both her sister Dickinson Lavinia and her brother Austin.  In her early childhood life, she stayed away from her mother and mostly stayed with her father. Furthermore, it is evident that Emily Dickinson usually attended church and she had a strong Christian based foundation.  However, later in life she stood out as an eccentric girl in the society and she refused to join the church activities. In school, she is described as one of the excellent students but health care problems pose a challenge to her studies later in life.  Her father was a politician, and in most cases Emily Dickinson will always impress her father friends due to her high levels of social skills, thus it can be argued that Emily Dickinson was a fun, intelligent as well as very clever woman (Flota, 2016).   

It is also true and evident that Emily Dickinson began to write poetry in late 1850 and majority of her poems were mainly based on traditional styles.  However, in late 1855 she went to Philadelphia and met a serious and brilliant young man called Charles Wadsworth, and she fell in love with him.  Due to their love issues and challenges, Emily Dickinson mainly wrote a number of poems dealing with love (Flota, 2016).   Therefore, the main aim, purpose as well as objective of this paper is to analyze the story Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare from Emily Dickinson perspective and viewpoint.

Analysis of the Poem Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare

The poem Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is set in a place called Dukedom of Illyria (Logan, 1982).    From the analysis of the poem, it is true that in the kingdom of Illyria, there is a noble man called Orsino who love listening to music in order to pine away from the love of a lady called Olivia (Shakespeare, n.d).     Orsino cannot have the lady Olivia because she is mourning for her dead brother thus refuses any marriage proposal at that moment (Logan, 1982).  However, off the coast, a storm has caused a terrible shipwreck and a young woman called Viola is swept onto the Illyrian shore.  Viola is a lone on a strange land and she assumes a twin brother called Sebastian has been drowned in the wreck as well (Shakespeare, n.d).   In the process, we can see a sea captain telling her about the love between Olivia and Orsino, and Viola only says she wish she could go to work in Olivia home. After learning that Lady Olivia do not talk with strangers, Viola decides to disguise herself as a man in order to go and work in the home of Duke Orsino. At Orsino’s place, Viola is known as Cesario and we can see Orsino love to him at the beginning (Logan, 1982).  Later Duke Orsino also falls in love with Viola. Despite this, Orsino believes that Viola is a man and this makes their relationship very difficult to pursue.  It is also evident that when Orsino send Viola to deliver her love messages to Olivia, Olivia also falls in love with Viola thinking that he is a man.  From this point, we can see a very challenging but complete love triangle (Logan, 1982).   For example, Viola loves Orsino, Orsino loves Olivia and Olivia loves Cesario (Viola) and all of them are miserable for love (Logan, 1982).  

As the story unfolds, we are introduced to Olivia family members including her uncle caller Sir Toby, his friend Sir Andrew Aguecheek as well as Maria and Malvolio (Logan, 1982).   Here William Shakespeare depict a lot of love issues including Olivia admirers such as Malvolio and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Logan, 1982).    In that sense, it is true that the main theme in the story is about love. Love messaging and letter writing is also clearly depicted in the story. For example, when Malvolio finds a letter he thinks that Olivia loves him and he begins to behave strangely that Olivia comes to think that he is mad (Mitchell, 1998).

We can also see Sebastian who now believes that her sister Viola is dead. When Sebastain arrives in Illyria along with his friend and protector known as Antonio, we can depict some love and sexually based relationship between them (Logan, 1982).  On the battlefield and fight between Sir Andrew and Cesario, we can see Olivia proposing to Sebastian to marry her due to the confusion. Sebastian is baffled since he had never seen Olivia before. However, Olivia thinks that Sebastian is Cesario (Viola). Despite this, Sebastian sees Olivia as a wealthy and beautiful woman and he agrees to go with her (Mitchell, 2012).

Due to the enmity between Antonio and Orsino, Antonio is arrested by Orsino’s officers and begs Cesario to help him and mistakes Cesario for Sebastian. Here there is a lot of confusion but Viola suddenly believes that there is hope for her brother (Hunt, 1993).  Later in the story, we can see Orsino realization that Viola is a woman and asks her to marry him while Olivia and Sebastian are also happily married. It is also evident that Sir Toby and Maria have been married privately and the story ends with a lot of celebrations (Mitchell, 2012).

From the analysis of Emily Dickinson, it can be argued that this story clearly depict the life of Emily Dickinson (Charney, 1978).  For example, when Emily Dickinson went to Philadelphia she met a man called Charles Wadsworth, who was a married reverend at one of the Presbyterian churches in the city. Charles Wadsworth was a very interesting and brilliant young man and Emily Dickinson deeply admired him (Mitchell, 2012).  From a number of literary writings, it is true and evident that Charles Wadsworth is the man that Emily Dickinson first fell in love with in the society and it is also evident that Charles Wadsworth is the man who inspired majority of his love poems. Furthermore, before Charles Wadsworth left Philadelphia church in late 1861, he went to visit Emily Dickinson and told her of his plans to leave the city. It is also true that after Charles Wadsworth departure from the city, Emily Dickinson suffered from a nervous breakdown that later incapacitated her for about a week and almost ruined her eyesight (Mitchell, 2012).  This clearly depict her strong love for Charles Wadsworth and can only be attributed to the love that Orsino had for Viola in the story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (Morley, 2002). 

It can also be argued that majority of Emily Dickinson poems mainly focus on form and structure and many of her poems has been used in the development of modern poetry in the society (Mitchell, 2012). Although her love poetry was private, she sent majority of her poems to people in the society as birth day greetings and during valentine celebrations. Valentine is mostly associated with love, thus it is true that Emily Dickinson personal life is depicted in the love story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (Emily Dickinson, 2016).  

As a poet, I believe Emily Dickinson would have found Viola more appealing especially due to her challenges and creativity towards life.  Furthermore, it is evident that during late 1860s to early 1870s, Emily Dickinson began to grew more reclusive and almost turned every visitor who came to see her (Emily Dickinson, 2016).   This is similar to the personal life of Olivia when she turned every marriage proposal during the death of her brother.  Olivia also locked herself in a room for days just like Emily Dickinson did in her days in order to keep away from others. It is also sad to note that just like Olivia, Emily Dickinson also lose a number of her close friends and families in her life including her mother, her friend Judge Otis as well as her young nephew Helen. Her lover and admirer Charles Wadsworth also died in late 1880s (Holmström, 2014).

Due to this, by the end of 1886, Emily Dickinson life and health began to deteriorate and she was growing old as well (Holmström, 2014).  At the age of fifty six years, she faced the problem of Bight’s disease and this largely affects her health in the society. However, she later died in May, 1886 and was buried laid in a white coffin in England (Holmström, 2014).

Emily Dickinson and Twelfth Night

There are a number of quotes that make and depict Emily Dickinson as one of the most prolific poets in the society. For example, according to Emily Dickinson, it is true and evident that poetry was the fire that inspired her life (Holmström, 2014). She believes in poetry and the power of love.  According to her, poetry made life so sweet just like love (Holmström, 2014).  She argues that people should not live in hope and believe and hope for a better tomorrow. This is a clear aspect that is depicted in the end of the story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare where everyone celebrates love life at last including Olivia, Viola and Orsino (Short, 2002). Thus, a number of personal aspects and motivation factors on Emily Dickinson are clearly depicted on various characters in the story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare (Kietzman, 2012).  I also believe that Emily Dickinson was one of the best poets in the society (Holmström, 2014). This is mainly because her collection of poems called the poems of Emily Dickinson was first published in late 1955 (Logan, 1982).  Her poems also focus on structure and form and have largely influenced the development of modern poems in the society (Holmström, 2014).  Furthermore, in late 1890, the first collection of Emily Dickinson was published while her second series of poems were published in early 1891.  From the love letters that of Emily Dickinson sends to her sister, called Lavinia, it is evident that Lavinia burned most of the letters. The letters sent by Emily Dickinson is similar to the letters that Orsino sent to Olivia (Mitchell, 2012).  It is also worth noting that despite, Emily Dickinson prolific writing skills, majority of her poems were not published during her life-time and her younger sister later discovered a collection of her letters in late 19890s. Due to this, Emily Dickinson poems have been edited and there are different versions of her manuscripts (Mitchell, 2012). 

It is also true that Edward Dickinson who was Emily Dickinson father died in late 1874. During her father funeral, Emily Dickinson stayed in her room and she did not attend the memorial service. She argued that her father was pure and inspired her to write relationship poems (Mitchell, 2012).

However, there are a number of individuals that argued that Emily Dickinson poetic works were also inspired by William Shakespeare literary writing styles including those that feature William Shakespeare major works such as Othello, Hamlet as well as King Lear and Twelfth Night.  There are a number of peotic writing styles that were common in a number of Emily Dickinson poems including the use dashes, imagery and regular meter (Mitchell, 2012).  She also involves the use of ballad stanza just like William Shakespeare and this is a clear indication that Emily Dickinson was mostly inspired by William Shakespeare writing style.  Majority of the poems written by Emily Dickinson included the use of traditional ballad stanza with strong application of ABCD rhyme schemes.  Furthermore, the use of humor, puns, satire as well as irony is also common in both Emily Dickinson and William Shakespeare literary works (Mitchell, 2012).

For example, in the story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, it is ironical that Orsino later married Viola who appeared and dressed like a man in the first place. It is also humorous and ironical that Olivia later married Sebastian instead of Viola (Mitchell, 2012).   Finally, it is worth noting that major theme in the poem and story Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare is mainly about love and from analysis of Emily Dickinson life, it is true that love issues is what inspired him to write poems and promote feminist ideas in the society (Mitchell, 2012).

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is true and evident from this paper that Emily Dickinson forms some of the best and most prolific poets in the past society. Based on her biography, it is true and evident that Emily Dickinson was born in late 1830 in England, Amherst (Massachusetts). She started her schooling at Amherst Academy and also continues with her further studies in the same school.  She also attended Mount Holyoke female seminary lessons in late 1847. In early 1855, she went to Philadelphia with her mother and sister and this is also the same time that she met Charles Wadsworth. Charles Wadsworth was a very brilliant man and Emily Dickinson fell in love with him.  It is also true and evident that through the interaction between Emily Dickinson and Charles Wadsworth, Emily Dickinson developed a strong feeling towards love and this is where her love for love story and poetic writings was highly developed. Thus, it can be argued that Charles Wadsworth inspired her to write poems dealing with love and relationships.  On the analysis of the story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare, it can be argued that the love entangles in the story clearly depict the life of Emily Dickinson. For example, just like Olivia, Emily Dickinson personal life was based on love challenges.  Furthermore, Emily Dickinson has a brother and a sister just like Viola and Olivia.  Viola love also seems clear and pure and she loves everything including dressing like a man in order to get an opportunity to work for Orsino. Her love does not wave like other character in the story such as Orsino who jumps from Olivia to her. Strong emotions of love are depicted in the story of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. For example, both Orsino and Olivia depict strong feelings of love and self-involvement.  In addition, just like Emily Dickinson life, these two characters who less interest towards outside world activities and mainly focus on their self-interest. 

References

Charney, M. (1978). Twelfth Night. Modern Language Review, 73(2), 384-385.

Emily Dickinson. (2016). Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition, 1.

Kietzman, M. J. (2012). WILL PERSONIFIED: VIOLA AS ACTOR-AUTHOR IN TWELFTH NIGHT. Criticism, 54(2), 257-289. 

Hunt, M. (1993). Malvolio, Viola, and the question of instrumentality: Defining providence in Twelfth Night. Studies In Philology, 90(3), 277. 

Shakespeare, W. (n.d). Twelfth Night, Or, What You Will. Champaign, Ill: Project Gutenberg. 

Short, B. C. (2002). Emily Dickinson’s Apostrophe. Women’s Studies, 31(6), 769. 

Mitchell, D. (1998). Revising the script: Emily Dickinson’s manuscripts. American Literature, 70(4), 705. 

Morley, S. (2002). Chekhov’s Twelfth Night. New Statesman, 131(4612), 48. 

Logan, T. J. (1982). Twelfth Night: The Limits of Festivity. Studies In English Literature (Rice), 22(2), 223

Holmström, J. (2014). Emily Dickinson Archive. Critical Quarterly, 56(1), 103-107.

Mitchell, K. (2012). House of Secrets: Tours at Emily Dickinson Museum Reveal a Fascinating Life Story. Businesswest, 28(7), 22. Flota, B. (2016). A Loaded Gun: Emily Dickinson for the 21st Century. Library Journal, 141(1), 104