Introduction
“The Soul selects her own Society” by Emily Dickinson is a concise poetic work which concentrates on the themes of choice, individuality, and emotional independence as well as isolation. Despite its small size, the poetess managed to compose a rather intriguing picture of the soul as being extremely personal.
In this case, the soul is not open to everybody but, on the contrary, chooses its society and locks the doors to the outside world. This poem reveals the soul’s relation to society.
In the first place, one may think that this short poem is about society and deals with the selection of some friends or other people whom one wants to be with and socialise with. However, upon examining the language used by Emily Dickinson in this poem, “The Soul selects her own society”, it turns out that the theme goes much deeper than it might seem from the very beginning. In this respect, “Society” is not merely the name of a group of people who socialise but rather a set of people, ideas, experiences, or emotions that enter the personal life of a person.
The Soul as an Independent Being
The poem starts with the well-known line:
“The Soul selects her own Society—”
As soon as we read this line, we see that Dickinson immediately assigns personality and independence to the soul. Instead of saying “Society chooses the soul”, she gives the soul the right to choose for itself. It is crucial,l as usually people are supposed to behave in accordance with some set of rules and norms. People are obliged to have friends, engage in various social activities, develop relationships and sometimes even live the life of other people. But Dickinson’s narrator believes that the soul has the right to make its own decisions.
The very word “selects” plays an essential role. It means that the soul does not act by chance. It carefully considers all those people surrounding it and only then admits them into its world
.
“Then—shuts the Door—”
The second important motion in this poem is when Dickinson says the following:
“Then—shuts the Door—”
This short imagery conveys profound meaning.
In general, one may see the literal meaning of this imagery; however, this imagery acquires deeper significance as a symbol. The door stands for the border between the private world of a person and the outer reality. Having chosen society, the soul shuts this border.
Moreover, this imagery adds a bit of theatricality to the poem since one may easily picture the person standing at the threshold of the house surrounded by the people standing outside. This soul selects certain individuals and allows them to enter before shutting the door. Using the dash helps Dickinson to create the feeling of determination. There is a little pause after “selects” and then comes the final action – the shutting of the door. In such a way, the speaker does not necessarily hate humankind and prefers to live separately from them. The main idea is that a person has the right to his/her privacy and emotional selectiveness even if this is expected by society.
The “Divine Majority”
Dickinson makes an interesting comparison here:
“To her divine Majority—”
“Divine Majority” is a paradox. On one hand, the word “majority” means lots of ordinary people, and on the other hand, “divine, means something that is holy, exalted, godlike. It is possible for the soul to refuse the majority. Regardless of how many people stand at the door, their quantity does not affect the soul.
Dickinson’s opposition to social conformity
This may be seen as Dickinson’s opposition to social conformity. People tend to believe that the majority should always be right. If everybody acts in a certain way, they all should be followed. Dickinson turns this idea upside down. It is not necessary to count to define the truth. An individual can disagree although the rest agree. This is why this poem still speaks to us in the present day. Our lives are under immense pressure nowadays in regard to being socially visible and connected. Dickinson’s poem teaches us that having lots of connections does not mean having good ones.
“Present no more—”
The final part of the poem gradually turns into something stricter and more serious:
‘Present no more—
When the soul makes its decision, it doesn’t go back to making changes all the time. This expression implies some final separation. There is something ceremonial in the finale. The soul has made its choice, shut the door and from now on nothing from the outer world will come in any longer. It might mean many things. It may imply the freedom of choice on the part of the soul. Also, it can be considered the emotional isolation that the author wrote about in many of her poems. The question left for consideration in the poem is: Is the soul protecting itself or separating itself?
Theme of Individuality
It may be said that one of the main themes of the poem is individuality.
Contrary to the expectations of some people, the speaker does not say that the personality of every human being is defined by society. The soul itself has preferences and standards.
That is why this poem promotes the idea that it is the right of each person to decide:
whom he/she trusts,
whom he/she loves,
whom he/she allows to enter his/her private world,
what values he/she accepts,
and when it needs to get away from society.
At the same time, it is wrong to think that the idea of Dickinson’s poem is isolation as such. In fact, the poet recognises the fact that the inner self has boundaries. The soul cannot be an open and public place; it is private property.
Theme of Choice
Choice is another key theme of this poem. Contrary to what may seem at first sight, it is not the soul that passively receives all relationships offered to it. It consciously chooses them. It makes the poem more interesting due to the fact that Dickinson depicts emotional life as an independent act of power. The soul has a private space to be true to itself. Meanwhile, the same door can also be a source of alienation.
Theme of Emotional Independence
A closed door keeps people apart. It acts as a shelter, yet at the same time, it closes off everyone who wants to enter the place. That is why Dickinson leaves us with the question of whether total selectiveness of emotions can result in happiness or loneliness. Such ambiguity brings extra meaning into this poem. The narrator agrees with the choice of the soul; nevertheless, as the audience, we are required to realise its meaning.
What does “The Soul selects her own society” mean?
“Society” has a lot of meanings. It can be understood as a circle of friends; however, it can be interpreted as all that surrounds a person. The soul can make a choice of one person, several people, an idea, or a dream. Once the soul has made its choice, all the other things become insignificant or valueless for it.
In this way, Emily Dickinson proves that the identity of a person is extremely personal, regardless of the number of other people.
Analysing the Poem from a Feminist Perspective
One can analyse this poem through the filter of women’s independence, generally speaking, despite the fact that the poetess Dickinson herself did not intend to discuss the poem within any political framework.
During the nineteenth century, women had to face various social pressures concerning their behaviour, relations, marriages, and families. Thus, Dickinson’s statement that a soul is free to choose the society that she wants to live in is an example of independence. The speaker does not want to submit her inner life to social pressures. She reigns at the entrance to her soul. It is very important, nevertheless, not to narrow the poem to the feminist context, since its motifs are broader.
Conclusion
“The Soul selects her own Society” is a brief yet very deep poem which considers individualism, isolation, emotional freedom and privacy. Dickinson shows us the soul as an autonomous power that makes very selective decisions about who gets inside it. And once the decision is made, it closes the door for everyone else.
Dickinson doesn’t say here that isolation is good, while society is bad; rather, she discusses a very complex issue of belonging vs. independence. That very same door that separates the soul can be used for the purpose of protecting the soul.
This ambiguity is one of the best features of Dickinson’s poem. She doesn’t give us any guidelines as to whether we should support the soul’s decision or not. She just describes the moment of decision and then of closing the door.
In short, one can see how Dickinson’s idea about the autonomy of the inner self is expressed in this poem.