Emily Dickinson is one of the most popular female poets to exist. Because she is so well known, she is widely talked about. But is it all true? 

Dickinson seems to be portrayed as a "black cat", in the poetry realm. Many critics single her out as being complex, her writing difficult to comprehend, and overall judging who she was as a person. As a woman who still lived at home, was never married, never had children, of course we should label her as difficult, right? 

Following the thoughts I just shared, I would love to teach Emily Dickinson, as well as discuss the faults in the history of poetry. For this unit, I would have a clear pedagogical focus on female poets in the 19th century, while focusing on topics such as gender and identity. 

What I would like to talk about in class: 

• The role of women in 19th-century America: expectations vs. reality

• Gendered expectations of marriage and motherhood during Dickinson’s time

• The creation of the "myth" of Emily Dickinson as a solitary, eccentric figure

• How gender influenced the interpretation of her reclusiveness

• The impact of biographers and critics (e.g., Thomas H. Johnson) on the "reclusive" narrative

• How Dickinson’s poetry has been labeled as “difficult” and why this is often tied to gender

• Comparing Dickinson’s reception with male poets of her time

• Feminist themes in Dickinson's work