Women on the Fringe: Representations of Depression in Lorde and Emily Dickinson

"Liability"

Poem 409, “The Soul selects her own Society,” promotes the idea that retreating into one’s mind and rejecting the rest of society (a specific form of insanity) is actually a choice. Repeatedly, the predicates of this poem greatly differ from Dickinson’s other poems about mental illness because it is the individual, “[t]he Soul” (line 1), who controls the situation by “select[ing] her own Society” (1) and by being able to “Choose” (10) her course of action – neither overwhelmed by psychological stressors nor trapped in a state of passivity. The capitalization of repeated door-associated diction – of “shut[ting] the Door” (2), of being behind and monitoring a “low Gate” (6), and of controlling “the Valves of her attention” (11) – further emphasizes this element of choice because not only does the soul have control over the doors but also because most closed doors can be reopened, suggesting that this type of mental illness of retreating from society is likely not permanent. Additionally, this decision to retreat into her mind is not nearly as horrific as it is described in other poems; instead, this elected state of insanity is a state of refuge for the soul, a place to which she can escape from the outside world. Because the soul would choose to seclude herself by “shut[ting] the Door - / [t]o her divine Majority” (3), she clearly does not want to interact with other people, a truth supported further by the fact that she is repeatedly “[u]nmoved” (lines 5 and 7) by others’ attempts to bring her back to society. Someone who feels uncomfortable in traditional society, the soul probably feels some relief by choosing to break from reality.

Nevertheless, the commentary from the first-person speaker in the final stanza of the poem introduces doubt about the beneficialness of escaping to a state of psychological instability. By stating that she has “known [the soul]” (9) and using past tense to describe her relationship with the soul, the speaker hints that the soul is lost or disconnected from her because of her retreat. Moreover, the fact that the speaker specifies that she must “[c]hoose one” (10) path – either that of engagement with society or of internal solitude – because, after making a decision, the door closes “[l]ike Stone” (12) – immovable, hard, impenetrable stone – indicates that this retreat into madness is, in fact, permanent, which creates an uneasy mood at the close of the poem. Hence, although the soul or the speaker can decide whether to enter this escapist psychosis, they will also lose control over their fates if they do choose madness.

“Liability” compliments poem 409 because it describes Lorde actively choosing seclusion away from society, a common symptom of depression. The song opens with Lorde facing rejection from a presumed lover and choosing to shut herself off from society, becoming “one girl swaying alone” because the constant rejection of society calling her a liability is too painful to deal with anymore. As in the poem, Lorde chooses solitude as a form of protection, but shutting herself off from society only exacerbates her mental anguish: in the chorus, she claims to understand that she is a liability, insinuating that Lorde accepts this low self-image formed by rejection as a truth that will continue to terrorize her mind even in solitude. The end of the song, where Lorde proclaims that she is going to “disappear into the sun” further hints that this choice of solitude is an iteration of mental illness; her depression will force her to combust and cease to exist altogether as she, too, loses control over her fate as she succumbs to madness.
 

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