What Soft — Cherubic Creatures

The foremost theme in Dickinson’s poem is gender and the speaker's somewhat subversive and abrasive attitude towards the gentlewomen. The speaker doesn’t mention men—gentlemen or otherwise—which makes it appear as if the gentlewomen are solely responsible for their “Dimity Convictions” (Line 5) and “Brittle" (Line 11) identity. In one sense, the theme of gender is empowering: The speaker treats the gentlewomen as if they have the power to manage their circumstances in life. While other men in the 1800s might have treated gentlewomen as dependent on them, the speaker regards the gentlewomen as if they’re autonomous. The speaker creates a sense of equality. By jettisoning men (besides the allusion to the fisherman), the speaker indicates that women have the resources to do more with their lives and carve out a different path instead of one fit for “Cherubic Creatures” (Line 1) afraid of “freckled Human Nature” (Line 7).

At the same time, the speaker could come across as arrogant or belittling. The absence of men in the poem suggests a skewed portrayal because it doesn’t account for how men shaped and influenced the lives of gentlewomen. It’s possible to claim that the speaker has an unsympathetic attitude toward the gentlewomen. The speaker’s condescending attitude toward the upper-class women mirrors the historically patronizing attitude of men, so, in this reading, the speaker is reinforcing unequal gender norms. This adds to the marginalization of the gentlewomen because the speaker is not acknowledging how the sexism of the time might have led the gentlewomen to adopt such a “refined” (Line 6) identity.