In 2001, the American Journal of Psychiatry published a case study
performed by John F. McDermott titled "Emily Dickinson Revisited: A
Study of Periodicity in Her Work." In his study, McDermott asserts that
Dickinson did not simply suffer from clinical depression; rather, he
argues that she suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). SAD is
a special case of clinical depression in which the afflicted suffers their greatest bouts of depression during the winter
months when the days shorten and nights lengthen, typically from the
onset of fall to the onset of spring. As proof toward his theory,
McDermott consulted research that dated each of Dickinson’s over 1800
poems by year, season, and month. He then focused specifically on a
four-year period when Dickinson was the most productive in her poetry writing, from 1858 to 1861, and classified the number of poems written in each year by the season in which they were written. His results were very conclusive that Dickinson suffered from SAD (McDermott 686-687).
In
the century since her death, Dickinson scholars have consistently
attempted to name the mental disorder which afflicted her so deeply in
the latter part of her life. Some of the disorders that have been
attributed to her include anorexia, bipolarism, agoraphobia, and
schizotypy, as well as basic clinical depression (Emily).
However, after seeing the overwhelming results of McDermott’s study, it
seems that SAD is very likely the cause of her mental anguish.
Considering the results of McDermott’s case study, it becomes
increasingly interesting when comparing his theory with Dickinson’s
poetry. In this paper, I plan to examine three of Dickinson’s poems –
"There’s a certain Slant of light," "I taste a liquor never brewed,"
and "Apparently with no surprise" — in order to further assert
McDermott’s theory that Emily Dickinson suffered from Seasonal
Affective Disorder.
In "There’s a certain Slant of light," Dickinson’s opening stanza states,
There’s a certain Slant of light,
Winter Afternoons–
That oppresses, like the Heft
Of Cathedral Tunes–
It’s important to note the capitalized words in this stanza, as the
capitalization is significant of the emphasis that Dickinson is placing
on these images. First, Dickinson capitalizes "Slant" but not light.
Capitalizing one but not the other is interesting due to the
connotations of the two words. "Slant" is symbolic of a sort of
distortion where as "light" is symbolic of illumination. The
capitalization of "Slant" allows the reader to acknowledge the emphasis
of the distortion associated with this "Slant of light." She attributes
this "Slant" to "Winter Afternoons," another emphasized image. It can
then be inferred that these two opening lines are referring to a
distortion caused by winter
afternoons. Dickinson goes on to state that this distortion is
oppressive — an almost outright insinuation that the distortion is an
overwhelming influence — and compares it to "the Heft/ Of Cathedral
Tunes." Cathedral tunes, another emphasized image, carry a heavy
connotation of their own. Cathedral tunes, in contrast to gospel music,
are slow, low-toned, and heavy, as Dickinson states herself. Cathedral
tunes are rarely played on a celebratory occasion; rather, they are
generally somber (Dickinson 175).
This opening stanza is interesting when considering McDermott’s theory. Dickinson is writing about a distortion caused by winter afternoons that causes an oppressive feeling of somberness. Moving into the second stanza, Dickinson writes
Heavenly Hurt, it gives us–
We can find no scar,
But internal difference,
Where the Meanings, are–
This
oppression she names "Heavenly Hurt" is not a physical ailment: "We can
find no scar." Rather, it affects on an emotional level: "internal
difference." In the third stanza, she moves on to call this affliction
"the Seal Despair…/ Sent us of the Air." So, this distortion caused
by winter
afternoons is not only an emotional distortion, it is in itself a form
of disparity. Furthermore, it is caused simply by the "Air" (Dickinson
175).
When comparing the above interpretation to the definition of SAD, it seems that Dickinson is writing very coherently about the effects of the disorder. Persons suffering from SAD experience an overwhelming depression during the months when the sunlight hours are shortened. Dickinson is essentially writing about the same phenomenon — an emotional despair caused by winter afternoons.
In
stark contrast to the somber tone of "There’s a certain Slant of light"
is the uplifting, almost playful tone of another of Dickinson’s poems,
"I taste a liquor never brewed." "There’s a certain Slant of light"
speaks of "Winter Afternoons," where as "I taste a liquor never brewed"
speaks of "endless summer days." Where the "Air" in "There’s a certain
Slant of light" causes a "Seal Despair," The "Air" in "I taste a liquor
never brewed" causes inebriation. This inebriation, however, is caused
by "a liquor never brewed," a statement that is symbolic of a high that
is caused by the season
In the third stanza of "I taste a liquor never brewed," Dickinson writes
When "Landlords" turn the drunken Bee
Out of the Foxglove’s door–
When Butterflies–renounce their "drams"–
I shall but drink the more!
This stanza can be seen as symbolic toward the uplift in emotion that
Dickinson feels during these "endless summer days." She continues to
indulge on the high that she gets from the air even after the bees and
butterflies have retired from pollinating flowers. Furthermore, bees
and butterflies are symbolic because they appear only during the warmer
seasons of spring and summer (Dickinson 173). Considering McDermott’s
theory that Dickinson was afflicted by SAD, the contrast between these
two poems can be shown not only to express the emotional despair felt
by persons afflicted by the disease during the winter months, but also to emphasize the almost surreal inebriation felt by those persons during the summer months.
The
final poem which I will examine combines elements of both of the above
poems in a manner which further promotes McDermott’s theory.
"Apparently with no surprise" opens with
Apparently with no surprise
To any happy Flower
The Frost beheads it at its play–
In accidental power–
This
poem starts off with two striking symbols — the flower and the frost.
The flower is an obvious symbol of the warmer months where the frost is
an obvious symbol of the colder months. The flower in the poem is
"happy" until the frost accidentally "beheads it at its play." This can
be seen as symbolic of the high that Dickinson feels during the summer
until the first frost comes and destroys that high. Furthermore, the
fact that this occurs "with no surprise" is significant because it
symbolizes a recurrence of that destruction (Dickinson 205). The flower
is not surprised that the frost destroys it just as Dickinson is not
surprised when her elation is destroyed by the onset of fall. This lack
of surprise signifies that Dickinson’s experiences with despair in the winter
and elation in the summer were recurring, an interpretation that
further develops McDermott’s theory that Dickinson suffered from SAD –
persons who have SAD experience the same symptoms and depression year after year.
In
conclusion, I feel that it’s important to state that McDermott’s
argument is solely a theory. As he states himself in the "Conclusion"
section of his case study, "Diagnostic impression without examination
is conjecture at best" (689). However, in the quest to form theories
toward the emotional disorder that plagued Emily Dickinson throughout
the latter part of her life, McDermott’s theory is an important one to
consider. The symptoms
of SAD are expressed very coherently in the examined poems, and, if
nothing else, offer an interesting and novel approach to interpreting
Dickinson’s poetry.
UCCESS is counted sweetest