16 pages • 32 minutes read
Emily DickinsonWhat Soft — Cherubic Creatures
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1896A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Further Reading & Resources
Related Poems
“‘Faith’ is a fine invention” by Emily Dickinson (ca 1860)
In this poem, Dickinson’s speaker comments on blind faith versus science (as symbolized by the “Microscope”). As in “What Soft—Cherubic Creatures,” Dickinson meditates upon themes of religion, spirituality, and human nature.
“The Soul selects her own Society” by Emily Dickinson (ca 1862)
“The Soul selects her own Society” and is independent; she is not concerned with or influenced by privilege or status, unlike the gentlewoman in “What Soft—Cherubic Creatures.” The Soul is not concerned with earthly or luxurious possessions, for she has only a “low Gate” and a bare “Mat” in front of her door.
“the rites for Cousin Vit” by Gwendolyn Brooks (1949)
Gwendolyn Brooks is a 20th-century poet and author who often wrote about independent women who didn’t conform to stereotypes. In her poem, “the rites for Cousin Vit,” Brooks brings to life a woman who departs from the gentlewomen in “What Soft—Cherubic Creatures.” Cousin Vit is neither supercilious nor weak. She embraces the messiness of life through dancing, love, and merriment. Dickinson reproaches the gentlewoman for being afraid of “freckled Human Nature” (Line 7), but Cousin Vit lives boldly as she “[s]lops the bad wine across her shantung” (Line 11), and even death “can’t hold her” (Line 2).
Further Literary Resources
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare (1597)
Dickinson read and admired the prolific and iconic English playwright William Shakespeare, and many of his plays complicate tropes about upper-class women and their supposed fragility. In his tragic drama Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare turns Juliet’s character into a forceful, clever young woman. Unlike the gentlewomen in Dickinson’s poem, Juliet demonstrates autonomy and independence. She defies her parents and avoids marrying Paris, the man they want her to marry, and plots and schemes to marry Romeo instead.
Sexual Personae: Art & Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson by Camille Paglia (1990)
Paglia is a provocative academic and theorist. In perhaps her most famous work, Sexual Personae, Paglia reassesses central artists, writers, and artistic movements through the lens of sexuality and culture. In the book’s last chapter, Paglia focuses on Dickinson. Like Susan Howe, Paglia doesn't see Dickinson as a victim of sexist norms. Far from a gentlewoman, Dickinson is a forceful, abrasive individual: “Even the best critical writing on Emily Dickinson underestimates her,” says Paglia.
Lean Out by Dawn Foster (2016)
One key idea in “What Soft—Cherubic Creatures” is that gentlewomen are out of touch with the ordinary world. The upper-class women can’t face its imperfections, nor do they want to associate with common people. Dickinson’s critique connects to contemporary debates about privileged people and how much they help the average person. Lean Out is Dawn Foster’s response to Lean In, a 2013 book authored by wealthy Facebook executive Sheryl Sandberg. Although there are many differences between the gentlewomen in Dickinson’s poem and the high-powered working women in Foster’s book, both groups appear removed from the struggles of the average person.
Listen to Poem
Broadway actress Julie Harris reads Dickinson’s poem. Harris starred in a 1976 play about the life of Dickinson, The Belle of Amherst.
Related Titles
By Emily Dickinson
