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Emily DickinsonMuch Madness is divinest Sense—
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1890A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
“Madness” Versus Sense
Emily Dickinson’s speaker reveals one of the poem’s main themes when they state, “Much Madness is most divine Sense” (Line 1). They pit senselessness versus sensibleness and argue that “the Majority” (Line 4) will “prevail” (Line 5) in determining what qualifies as rational and irrational. If a person adheres to the majority’s views, they “are sane” (Line 6) and acquire acceptance. A person who doesn’t subscribe to the edicts of the multitude becomes “straightway dangerous" (Line 7) and faces the punishment of “a Chain” (Line 8).
The image of the chain subverts the sensibleness of the majority and adds a layer of irony to the theme. A calm majority presumably wouldn't be fazed by someone who thinks and acts differently. Ideally, a composed majority would have confidence in their way of life and not feel threatened by the nonconformist. The harsh reaction to the nonconformist indicates that “madness” is a part of the majority. Their thirst for retribution is not sensible: It’s cruel and base.
The speaker doesn’t undercut their claim that sense lies with the person who stands out. Thus, the nonconformist’s “discerning Eye” (Line 2) stays judicious. Yet the route to the “discerning Eye” remains unclear. The reader might wonder how a person can cultivate a “discerning Eye,” and, as Dickinson’s speaker doesn’t elaborate, the best one can do is speculate. Perhaps by listening to people like Dickinson’s speaker, the individuals who make up the masses will be less quick to judge unorthodox behavior. Conversely, the “discerning Eye” may be a gift a person has to be born with—the way they’re born with eyes. They either have it or don’t, and if they lack it, they can become or remain a member of the majority, which will mark them as “sane”—though, as Dickinson’s poem suggests, the sanity of the majority is something that should be questioned.
Conformity Versus Singularity
The speaker bonds the theme of “Madness” Versus Sense to the theme of conformity versus singularity, as senselessness and sense don’t exist in a vacuum—they depend on the context. In any given community or group, there’s a majority—a multitude of people who, for whatever reason, form a consensus—that determines what qualifies as logical conduct and unreasonable behavior. Due to their size, the conformists hold the power and can punish the singular person who doesn’t adhere to the status quo. Though chained, the singular person has the satisfaction of knowing that they’re right and possess a gift that the majority lacks. In other words, the singular person appears to be better than the majority. They have a uniquely intelligent mind, “a discerning Eye” (Line 2) that allows them to see the sense through the supposed “madness” and the “madness” in the supposed sense.
A cynical interpretation of the theme spots anti-democratic strains in Dickinson’s speaker. The speaker puts down the majority because they don’t think the masses are perceptive. Rather than face the judgment of their peers, the speaker decouples themselves from their community and exists in a rarefied world of their own, where only those with the elusive “discerning Eye” (Line 2) can make thoughtful choices.
In Sexual Personae (Yale UP, 1990), the contemporary Western scholar and critic Camilla Paglia claims that Dickinson’s poems “wage guerrilla warfare with society” (652). By hooking spurious thinking to conformity and sense to singularity and then pitting the pairs against each other, Dickinson’s speaker creates conflict. The strife relies on the trope that the majority is uncritical and vengeful, and many thinkers and philosophers agree with Dickinson’s thesis. In Civilization and Its Discontents (1930), the 20th-century Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud presents humans as base and violent. The 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche also thought humans were vulgar and advocated overcoming human nature and becoming something resembling a superhero. Returning to the authorial context, no one put Dickinson in chains for her singular, nonconformist lifestyle—though that could be because she largely isolated herself and kept out of sight. In any case, the majority didn’t punish her, so her speaker may be overstating their case concerning the majority and their dubious definitions for what is reasonable and unreasonable.
The Right to Punish
The theme of punishment manifests when the nonconformist finds themself “handled with a Chain” (Line 8) by “the Majority” (Line 4). As the singular person can’t punish the majority (though they can look down on them), the right to punish lies with the majority. Not only can the majority label someone senseless or sensible, but they can inflict a penalty on the person who doesn’t obey their ethos.
Dickinson’s beliefs about punishment align with those of Nietzsche, who argues in On the Genealogy of Morals (1887) that communities have the right to punish outsiders not because they’re virtuous and the person who doesn’t fit in is a villain, but because the community represents the majority, and they don’t want to deal with someone not like them. Thus, punishment is neither sensible nor just: It doesn't come from principles or ideals––instead, it’s the product of a wrathful, monolithic multitude.
The majority keeps the singular person in bondage. They oppress them and confine them. The nonconformist can’t move or pursue their chosen path—they’re imprisoned by the chain. Through the chained person, the majority shows off their right to punish. The chained person becomes an example: If people don’t want to end up in chains, they’d better stick to the majority and not try to be a trailblazer like the singular person. What Dickinson’s speaker suggests, Nietzsche explicitly states: The multitude is inferior and lacks confidence, so it punishes those whom it fears are better than them, like people with “a discerning Eye” (Line 2).
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