The dialectic of pleasure and pain in selected poems of Emily Dickinson

Abstract EN

This paper is concerned with exploring Emily Dickinson’s views on pleasurand pain and the conflict between them that results in a synthesis in which the two opposites are reconciled.

The paper begins with a historical perspective on the concepts of pleasure and pain as they were tackled in different ancient schools of thought till the recent time.

This is followed by an explanation of the philosophic term of “dialectic” in reference to George Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831), the German idealist philosopher, who is considered one of the most prominent thinkers of the 19th century.

The paper then moves to discuss the major factors that led to the appearance of the dialectic phenomenon in Dickinson’s works.

The second section of the paper is devoted to investigating a group of Dickinson’s poems that tackle her musings on the sensation of pleasure which represent the thesis in her dialectics.

Section three tackles the opposing concept of pain, which represents the antithesis, and the speculations and outcries heard in a number of the poet’s poems.

The last section of the paper shows how the oscillation between the extremes of joy and agony are resolved in a double-faceted synthesis in which joy and anguish are considered complementary and necessary for the existence of each other.

The discussion is enhanced with quotations from Emily Dickinson’s poems.

The paper ends with a conclusion that outlines the final findings of the study.

This is followed by endnotes and a bibliography in which the sources consulted in the paper are listed.