She Rose To His Requirement

A detailed Summary of She Rose To His Requirement

The title of this Emily Dickinson poem, "She rose to His Requirement",

is taken directly from the first line of the first stanza. The title immediately caught my eye, stirring up my emotions and forcing me to keep reading, if only to find out what "His Requirement" (1. 1) might be. I believe the first stanza focuses on what the female in the poem once had.

She Rose to His Requirement -dropt/The Playthings of Her Life/To take

the honorable Work/Of Woman and of Wife - (1. 1-4)

The first line alone is packed with alliteration, with a heavy "r" sound. It is obvious in her choice of the words "rose" (1. 1) and "requirement" (1. 1), but less obvious in the word "dropt" (1. 1). Perhaps this is the reason she chooses to use the dash at the end of the line, rather than just carrying the word over into the next line. However, the dash also causes a pause in the reading, forcing the reader to stop and focus on the harshness of it.

She says she "dropt the Playthings of Her Life" (1. 1-2), which can be taken to mean a wide variety of things. I believe she is trying to convey some sort of loss of innocence in these words. Rather than to take the "playthings" (1. 2) literal

It lay unmentioned - as the Sea/Develope Pearl, and Weed,/But only to

woman is already "missing" (2. 5) something, or feels a sense of loss. Dickinson

Himself - be known/The Fathoms they abide - (3. 9-12).

and "awe", (2. 5-6) all making similar sounds. The first line tells us that the

These lines also contain alliteration, with the capitalized words "Woman", "Wife", and "Work" (1. 3-4). It is intriguing how she chooses to use both the words "woman" and "wife" (1. 4) in the same line. In this context, it is almost as if she is saying that woman and wife are one and the same. In this time period, all women were expected to eventually marry. Therefore, any woman would soon become a wife. I believe that by wording it this way, she is trying to get the reader to separate them in his/her own mind, and to possibly realize that women have the potential to become much more than just a wife.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Pearl Weed/But, Prospective Gold/In, Woman Wife, Emily Dickinson, Playthings Life, woman wife, woman wife 1, 1 1, wife 1, Amplitude Awe, Rose Requirement, Playthings Life/To, emily dickinson, Work/Of Woman, , gold/in using wear, loss amplitude, 1 3-4, awe 2, requirement 1, honorable work/of, words woman wife, using wear 2, work/of woman, honorable work/of woman,

Approximate Word count = 1162
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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She Rose To His Requirement

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