Dickinson’s poem “I felt a cleaving in my mind” represents the speaker’s indecisiveness to conform to traditionally women gender roles, resulting in a split crisis in this patriarchal society. Dickson illustrates images that represent how torn she is about her performance as a woman.
The poem begins with the lines “I felt a cleaving in my mind/ As if my brain had split” (1-2) creating a strong image of an intensive division that the speaker feels. She continues to say “I tried to match it, seam by seam, But could not make them fit” (3-4). When she is trying to match things seam by seam the reader is presented with an image of someone trying to match something such as a quilt seam by seam, a craft traditionally performed by women. It is confusing to her as to why she can’t join this split in her mind suggesting that she is having a gender crisis. When thinking of a quilt, all the pieces fit in perfectly together, except in the speakers case. …show more content…
In this uneasiness she desires to identify a certain way, but it is like she is having a breakdown because she feels likes she is torn between two different ways of being. The similes of sewing create an exaggerated idea of what woman do, demonstrating that the speaker cannot identify with these norms. Runzo claims, “Dickinson and her poems appear contained within the parameters of heterosexist ideology, although she offers us every sign that she locates herself outside of it” (Runzo 9). Breaking out of the performance of the traditional woman creates judgment from the people in society and her feelings of being torn are causing this mental
The poem begins with the lines “I felt a cleaving in my mind/ As if my brain had split” (1-2) creating a strong image of an intensive division that the speaker feels. She continues to say “I tried to match it, seam by seam, But could not make them fit” (3-4). When she is trying to match things seam by seam the reader is presented with an image of someone trying to match something such as a quilt seam by seam, a craft traditionally performed by women. It is confusing to her as to why she can’t join this split in her mind suggesting that she is having a gender crisis. When thinking of a quilt, all the pieces fit in perfectly together, except in the speakers case. …show more content…
In this uneasiness she desires to identify a certain way, but it is like she is having a breakdown because she feels likes she is torn between two different ways of being. The similes of sewing create an exaggerated idea of what woman do, demonstrating that the speaker cannot identify with these norms. Runzo claims, “Dickinson and her poems appear contained within the parameters of heterosexist ideology, although she offers us every sign that she locates herself outside of it” (Runzo 9). Breaking out of the performance of the traditional woman creates judgment from the people in society and her feelings of being torn are causing this mental