Rebooting Emily: Dickinson in Biographical Fiction
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Tonje Lien Wold Rebooting Emily: Dickinson in biographical fiction Master’s thesis in English Literature Trondheim November 2017 Norwegian University of Science and Technology Faculties of Humanities Department of Language and Literature 1 2 Acknowledgements This has been a long albeit fulfilling journey. Along the way are some people to whom I wish to express my gratitude. I took one of his courses many years ago and was immediately impressed by Domhnall Mitchell’s teaching style and topics. It has been a true gift and an immensely enriching experience to have him as my supervisor. He has opened up this fascinating world of Emily Dickinson and biographical fiction to me, and given me many laughs along the way. There are really no words to explain my gratitude, but here is one: thanks! I will forever be grateful. To Houghton Library at Harvard University for their help and information when I unannounced knocked on their door and wanted to see the Dickinson Room. To Sigrid Fiskerud who joined me on my Massachusetts adventure and entertained me all the way to Amherst. To Margaret MacArthur who was the first to make me see that literature can be more than just a hobby. To Maria Boer Johannessen who kept me sane when I started loosing it. To Irmelin Heggertveit and Marte Tveten for being exactly the friends I needed these last five months, and giving me many soul-nourishing experiences at all the right times. To Mari Norrøne for always being my home away from home. To mamma and pappa who have always shown me unconditional love, and despite my many unconventional choices, eventually also unconditional support. I am lucky to call you my parents. i ii Abstract This thesis examines four biographical novels about Emily Dickinson – The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson by Jerome Charyn, I Never Came to You in White by Judith Farr, Miss Emily by Nuala O’Connor, and the short story “EDickinsonRepliLuxe” from Wild Nights! by Joyce Carol Oates. The thesis will look at what it is that these books do which is biographical, and whether we gain any insight into Dickinson’s life from fictionalising that we did not know before. What are the tools of biographical fiction the authors use, what do they invent, and what image do we get about Dickinson? First, there will be an introduction of the biographical person Emily Dickinson, definitions of biography and biographical fiction, and a discussion of how these genres relate to Dickinson and these four books. The next four chapters discuss each of the novels before the conclusion sums up the discoveries. Some discussions include how the genre might influence a reader’s perception of Dickinson as a biographical person, but also her epistolary and lyrical production; how the novels may add to our understanding of the poet’s writings; and motivations for writing a biographical fiction. The originality of this thesis lies partly in its attention to Emily Dickinson as a subject of biographical fiction because very little has been written about this now. iii iv Table of contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. I ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................................... III TABLE OF CONTENTS .................................................................................................................... V INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 1 This thesis........................................................................................................................................ 1 Biographical fiction and Emily Dickinson ........................................................................................ 2 EMILY DICKINSON .................................................................................................................................... 3 Early life .......................................................................................................................................... 3 Parental influence ........................................................................................................................... 4 Schooling and early writing ............................................................................................................ 4 Mount Holyoke Female Seminary ................................................................................................... 5 Adult life in Amherst ....................................................................................................................... 7 Sue .................................................................................................................................................. 8 A biographer’s influence ................................................................................................................. 9 Late life ......................................................................................................................................... 10 RELUCTANCE TO PUBLISH ........................................................................................................................ 14 BIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................... 14 BIOGRAPHICAL FICTION ........................................................................................................................... 17 History ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Possibilities and challenges ........................................................................................................... 19 WHY THESE NOVELS ............................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 1: JEROME CHARYN – THE SECRET LIFE OF EMILY DICKINSON ........................................ 23 THE AUTHOR ......................................................................................................................................... 23 NARRATION .......................................................................................................................................... 23 A LIFE OUTSIDE ...................................................................................................................................... 24 COLLEGE HILL AND JANE EYRE.................................................................................................................. 26 A BELIEVABLE CHARACTER ....................................................................................................................... 27 COVERING UP........................................................................................................................................ 28 SEXUALITY AS ENTERTAINMENT ................................................................................................................ 30 GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN ................................................................................................................. 31 DOMESTICITY AND DADDY ISSUES ............................................................................................................. 32 GENDER POLITICS................................................................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 2: JUDITH FARR – I NEVER CAME TO YOU IN WHITE ...................................................... 35 THE AUTHOR ......................................................................................................................................... 35 NARRATION .......................................................................................................................................... 35 SCHOLARSHIP ........................................................................................................................................ 36 TELLING, NOT SHOWING ......................................................................................................................... 37 EXAMPLES ............................................................................................................................................ 38 PREDICTING THE FUTURE ......................................................................................................................... 40 ENEMIES .............................................................................................................................................. 41 Margaret Mann ............................................................................................................................ 42 LESBIAN LOVE ....................................................................................................................................... 43 ETHICAL RESPONSIBILITY ......................................................................................................................... 45 v CHAPTER 3: NUALA O’CONNOR – MISS EMILY ............................................................................. 47 THE AUTHOR ......................................................................................................................................... 47 NARRATION .........................................................................................................................................