Dickinson's Epistolary "Naturalness"

Abstract

Historically, as letter writers have known, not writing for publication allows for a "natural" or unfinished writing style. Even early on, Dickinson understood epistolary conventions and tested them in her letters and, atypically, in her poems as well; in doing so, she asserted to the recipients of her "published" poems that she was unequivocally their author. This essay regards Dickinson as a participant in her culture—she shared, for instance, its fascination with private lives becoming public. Though wary of public attention herself, she knew the popularity of "authentic" things, and cultivated a "natural" writing style that her 1890s editors would exploit in their marketing of her work.