By Mallory Wine

She was born on December 10, 1830 in Amherst, Massachusetts. She left school as a teenager to go live on her family’s homestead and lived a reclusive life. During this time she filled notebooks and wrote letters.

Her family had deep roots in New England. Her grandfather, Samuel Dickinson, was well known as the founder of Amherst College. Her father served as a state legislature and worked at Amherst. Her parents got married in 1828 and had three children: William Austin, Lavinia Norcross, and Emily.

Emily was educated at Amherst Academy and the Mount Holyoke Female Seminary. She was an excellent student, but she missed long periods of the school year because of frequent illness and depression. It is unknown why she left the academy in 1848, but it is believed that her fragile emotional state played a role.

Her early influences include Leonard Humphrey who was the principal of Amherst Academy. A family friend named Benjamin Franklin Newton was also an early influence on her. Newton introduced Emily to William Wordsworth who eventually became an inspiration to her.

There is confusion about which movements Emily’s writing falls in because she has qualities from both. It could be Modernism because of her unpredictable style. This is one of the most common characteristics of Modernism. It could also be Realism, because she used a lot of imagery and personification. These are common characteristics among Realists.

All of the Dickinson siblings lived on the large Dickinson Homestead in Amherst. While living there, Emily served as the caregiver for her ailing mother until her death in Emily’s seclusion during this time was partly due to her responsibilities as caregiver for sick mother. Scholars have also speculated that she suffered from various conditions such as agoraphobia, depression, and/or anxiety.

Emily died of kidney disease in Amherst, Massachusetts, on May 15, She was laid to rest in her family plot at West Cemetery. The homestead, where Emily lived, is now a museum.

Few of Dickinson’s work was published at the time of her death, and of the few that were published, they were edited to the conventional standards of that time. Unfortunately, much of the power of her unusual form of syntax was lost in alteration. Some of her famous works include: A Bird came down, I Never Saw a Moor, and A Light Exists in Spring.

“Emily Elizabeth Dickinson.” Bio. A&E Television Networks Web. 1 Sep Reuben Paul P. “Early Twentieth Century- American Modernism: A Brief Introduction.” California a State University Stanislaus. 24 May Web. 30 Mar. 2010