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

Lorde, a Contradiction

Lorde is an unconventional pop musician and the most significant of the “fringe women” because of her unique ability to combine pop stardom and her position as an outsider. According to Richard Dyer, “the general image of stardom can be seen as a version of the American Dream, organised [sic] around the themes of consumption, success, and ordinariness” (Dyer 35). Though Lorde’s background is incredibly average (aside from being famous) – emerging from the suburbs of New Zealand onto the world stage at the age of 16 – her first smash hit "Royals" established her position as an outsider in opposition to mainstream pop and its mass consumerism while still paving her path to stardom.
In the song, she criticizes how unrelatable most pop music is, appealing to lavish wealth with lyrics about “gold teeth, Grey Goose, … Cristal, Maybach, diamonds on your timepiece,” while maintaining that she will never be a royal, never be an out-of-touch pop star. Throughout the rest of Lorde’s first album, Pure Heroine, she repeatedly appeals to her background as an ordinary girl from nowhere and proves herself as a voice for outsiders across the globe, a refreshingly unique outlook that brought her massive fame while still allowing her to create music on the fringe, outside of the limitations of mass superstardom.
 

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