The theme that I can see with all the letters is that Emily Dickinson could have had a mental disorder, depression, anxiety, even social phobia, that could have contributed to her “loneliness.” Remember Dickinson’s poem, poem 1266. In letter three, I had said that this poem gives the impression that Dickinson was an optimistic type of person. The poem screaming positivity. Despite what the poem might mean, we cannot assume that Dickinson really was this type of person (remember authors function). Technically, we know that she was not this type of person because of information that we have of her today. However, even if we do know that Dickinson was not a “happy” person and always lonely, the cause of her isolation cannot be determined. Just like her causes of isolation were all different, the disorders she could have possibly had are all different as …show more content…
We know what kind of poetry it is because, we have been prescribed to do the same thing. When Dickinson wrote, she talked about death, being lonely, and having fear, kind of like we did and probably still do, but hers is more sophistically written. When researching, I came across five different sources that gave me four different types of illnesses Dickinson could have had. According to the article “Interior Chambers: The Emily Dickinson Homestead” by Diana Fuss, the illness that Dickinson had was Agoraphobia, an extreme or irrational fear of crowded spaces or enclosed public places (3). Another article, “Emily Dickinson and Schizotypy” by Steven Winhusen, suggested Dickinson had schizophrenia, a mentality or approach characterized by inconsistent or contradictory elements (79). Two others authors suggested Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), depression associated with late autumn and winter and thought to be caused by a lack of light (Ramey & Weisberg 173), and the last author said she had Nervous Prostration, which is an emotional disorder that leaves you exhausted and unable to work (Archer