American Literature - was Emily Dickinson's maid her muse?

In 'Maid as Muse,' author Aife Murray argues that Emily Dickinson's
maid served as a muse for her poetry. (Photo: UPNE)

American Literature - was Emily Dickinson's maid her muse? - In a new book, author Aife Murray argues that American poet, Emily Dickinson's Irish immigrant maid, Margaret Maher, and the other domestic workers in her family's employ, not only relieved her of many 19th century household duties allowing her to write but also served as muses for her sensibilities and her language.

The book, Maid as Muse: How Servants Changed Emily Dickinson's Life and Language, has just been published by the University Press of New England.

The publisher describes Ms. Murray's study this way:

"In Maid as Muse, Aífe Murray explodes the myth of the isolated genius and presents an intimate, densely realized story of joined lives between Emily Dickinson and her domestic servants. Part scholarly study, part detective story, part personal journey, Murray’s book uncovers a world previously unknown: an influential world of Irish immigrant servants and an ethnically rich one of Yankee, English-immigrant, Native American, and African American maids and laborers, seamstresses and stablemen. Murray reveals how Margaret Maher and the other servants influenced the cultural outlook, fashion, artistic subject, and even poetic style of Emily Dickinson."

One of the gifts of feminist literary criticism over the last 35 years to literature as a whole has been the detailed exploration of subjects like these, rarely documented domestic arenas where the art of women in particular has been allowed to grow and flourish.

Emily Dickinson has had many myths written about her - that she was crazy, out-of-touch with the world around her.  Because she preferred to spend most of her time at home, there are those who think she must have had a problem of some sort.  What if, instead, she simply decided that home was where she was most comfortable and where she received the greatest support for her work as a writer? This book is one of those that explores that possibility.

Maid as Muse, 324 pages in hardcover, lists for $35.00 at both online and brick and mortar booksellers.  For more information, check out Ms. Murray's website for her book here.

NOTE:  The National Literature Examiner, Connie Ann Kirk, is the author of Emily Dickinson: A Biography (Greenwood, 2004) and maintains the Emily Dickinson Online website.

(Photo, bottom: Greenwood Press).

SEE ALSO:

New York Botanical Garden to feature Emily Dickinson 'Poetry of Flowers' exhibit

Meryl Streep to headline 'Poetry and the Creative Mind' at Lincoln Center for National Poetry Month

National Poetry Month 2010 - Academy of American Poets plans series of events

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Connie Ann Kirk is a published author of 10 books. She is currently working on a novel and a screenplay.  See all of Connie's Arts & Entertainment columns at these pages: National Books on Film Examiner , National Literature Examiner, and National Young Adult Pop Culture Examiner .  Feel free any time to also check out her website.