19 pages • 38 minutes read
Emily DickinsonMuch Madness is divinest Sense—
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1890A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Form and Meter
Emily Dickinson’s poem is only eight lines long, so it’s short and compact. As her speaker takes aim at the majority and their uncritical views of “Madness” Versus Sense, the poem’s many dashes help give the poem a quick and sharp form to be fired at the multitudes. In other words, the poem’s concentrated form becomes a way for the singular speaker to punish the majority in the small way available.
As the poem also deals with Conformity Versus Singularity, Dickinson reinforces the juxtaposition by not conforming to one strict meter and instead using two different meters. Lines 1 and 7 feature iambic tetrameter—that is, there are four sets of unstressed-stressed syllables. Lines 2, 4, 5, 6, and 8 use iambic trimeter, or three sets of unstressed-stressed syllables. The two meters reflect the majority’s imputed argument that senselessness and sensibleness are reducible to a binary: “Assent — and you are sane — / Demur — you’re straightway dangerous —” (Lines 6-7). Line 3, however, doesn’t conform to either meter (“Much Sense — the starkest Madness”), and as Dickinson gives the trimeter five lines and the tetrameter two lines, she makes them unequal, just like the singular person isn’t equal to the majority—they’re above it, in her speaker’s eyes.
Though the poem features only one clear end rhyme—“sane” (Line 6) and “Chain” (Line 8)—Dickinson creates a melody of her own through alliteration, placing words together that start with the same sound. “Much Madness” (Line 1) is alliteration, as both words start with “m.” “Much Sense — the starkest Madness —” (Line 3) also has alliteration, with two words starting with “m” and two words starting with “s.” While the dashes give the poem a mulish, chaotic feel, the small amount of patterning present in the meter and alliteration brings a sense of familiarity to the clutter.
Juxtaposition
Juxtaposition is a literary device where the poet places two things, ideas, or so on side by side so the reader can examine their similarities and differences up close. In her poem, Dickinson compares and contrasts “madness” with sense, with the two nouns appearing together in Line 1 and Line 3. Through the juxtaposition, the reader can see how easy it is to characterize what is truly rational as irrational, and vice versa. The juxtaposition suggests these terms lack fixed definitions. There isn’t an objective power dispassionately labeling people logical and illogical, yet there is an unthinking majority that calls people “mad” when they don’t conform to the status quo.
The poem also juxtaposes the individual with the crowd—or the singular person with “the Majority” (Line 4). Through this juxtaposition, the reader gets the feeling that a unique person is morally superior to the person who joins the majority. The former possesses an intelligent “discerning Eye” (Line 2), while the latter yields to simplistic binaries and doling out cruel punishments. The juxtapositions give the reader a choice: They can try and be like the perceptive person, or they can throw their lot in with the multitude. Dickinson’s speaker isn’t impartial. Presenting the majority as inferior, the speaker encourages the reader to behave like a judicious rebel.
Diction
Diction is a literary device where the poet uses specific words to make their points and convey their message. In Dickinson’s poem, she uses the words “madness” and “sense” to create the theme of “Madness” Versus Sense and to reveal how these ideas work in the world. By capitalizing the words, she gives them extra weight. They become proper nouns, as do “Eye” (Line 2), “Majority” (Line 4), and “Chain” (Line 8). The transformation of common nouns into proper nouns almost dares the reader to believe that Dickinson lacks a certain kind of sense. The reader might wonder what kind of person capitalizes a word like “eye” or “chain.” Through her unique diction, Dickinson teaches the reader to cultivate “a discerning Eye” (Line 2). Instead of judging her eccentric word use and style, the reader should try to understand why it makes sense. The words she capitalizes are crucial to her message, so it’s logical for her to set them apart. A chain should be a “Chain” because it’s a terrible punishment, and the speaker emphasizes its unthoughtful application through the uppercase “c.” The same goes for words like “Madness” and “Sense”—they’re consequential terms that warrant the stature of a specific place, thing, or person. They’re major categories that a person shouldn’t take lightly.
Related Titles
By Emily Dickinson
