Recent posts have focused on the engagement of Austin & Susan Dickinson.
After a trip to New Hampshire to visit relatives, Susan Gilbert stopped in Boston on her way home to Amherst and spent the night of March 23 at the Revere Hotel where Austin Dickinson was staying. Then, when Susan arrived back in Amherst, she told Emily Dickinson that she and Austin were engaged.
On March 27, 1853, Dickinson sent Austin her congratulations and wrote “I guess we are very good friends tho', and I guess we both love Susie just as well as we can.”
The letter (HERE) begins with that statement, “Oh my dear ‘Oliver,’ how chipper you must be since any of us have seen you?”
In her book The Letters of Emily Dickinson, editor Cristanne Miller noted, “‘Oliver’ may allude to the young lover in ‘As You Like It,’ suggesting ED’s part as a go-between in Austin and Susan’s courtship.”
In an article for the New Yorker entitled “When Emily Dickinson Mailed It In,” author by Kamran Javadizadeh reported the following:
“On March 5, 1853, while her family ate breakfast, Emily Dickinson addressed four envelopes to Susan Gilbert, a woman with whom she seemed to be in love. The envelopes were empty. Though Emily had already written Sue several letters—and would, over the decades to come, write her hundreds more—these particular envelopes would not carry her words. Instead, Emily left the envelopes for her brother, Austin, who wanted to write to Sue in secret, and who happened to be in love with her himself.”
Contemporary research, particularly the work of Dickinson scholar Martha Nell Smith, has strongly suggested a romantic, even erotic, love between Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law, Susan. Therefore, in his article for the New Yorker, Javadizadeh questioned why Dickinson “would address those envelopes for her brother, and facilitate the courtship that would put Sue out of reach?”
Well, for one thing, it was 1853. Same-sex relationships at that time were considered “abominable” or “unmentionable,” similar to bestiality and incest. Most states had strict laws against same-sex partners with penalties including banishment, castration, imprisonment, and death.
On the other hand, one could argue that Dickinson was actually working to keep Susan close at hand. After all, promoting a relationship with Austin could result in Susan becoming a part of the family (which is exactly what happened).
If interested in a closer look at the relationship between Emily and Susan, check out Smith’s book Open Me Carefully, which examines Dickinson's letters to Susan and posits a passionate and intimate relationship that went beyond close friendship.
After a trip to New Hampshire to visit relatives, Susan Gilbert stopped in Boston on her way home to Amherst and spent the night of March 23 at the Revere Hotel where Austin Dickinson was staying. Then, when Susan arrived back in Amherst, she told Emily Dickinson that she and Austin were engaged.
On March 27, 1853, Dickinson sent Austin her congratulations and wrote “I guess we are very good friends tho', and I guess we both love Susie just as well as we can.”
The letter (HERE) begins with that statement, “Oh my dear ‘Oliver,’ how chipper you must be since any of us have seen you?”
In her book The Letters of Emily Dickinson, editor Cristanne Miller noted, “‘Oliver’ may allude to the young lover in ‘As You Like It,’ suggesting ED’s part as a go-between in Austin and Susan’s courtship.”
In an article for the New Yorker entitled “When Emily Dickinson Mailed It In,” author by Kamran Javadizadeh reported the following:
“On March 5, 1853, while her family ate breakfast, Emily Dickinson addressed four envelopes to Susan Gilbert, a woman with whom she seemed to be in love. The envelopes were empty. Though Emily had already written Sue several letters—and would, over the decades to come, write her hundreds more—these particular envelopes would not carry her words. Instead, Emily left the envelopes for her brother, Austin, who wanted to write to Sue in secret, and who happened to be in love with her himself.”
Contemporary research, particularly the work of Dickinson scholar Martha Nell Smith, has strongly suggested a romantic, even erotic, love between Emily Dickinson and her sister-in-law, Susan. Therefore, in his article for the New Yorker, Javadizadeh questioned why Dickinson “would address those envelopes for her brother, and facilitate the courtship that would put Sue out of reach?”
Well, for one thing, it was 1853. Same-sex relationships at that time were considered “abominable” or “unmentionable,” similar to bestiality and incest. Most states had strict laws against same-sex partners with penalties including banishment, castration, imprisonment, and death.
On the other hand, one could argue that Dickinson was actually working to keep Susan close at hand. After all, promoting a relationship with Austin could result in Susan becoming a part of the family (which is exactly what happened).
If interested in a closer look at the relationship between Emily and Susan, check out Smith’s book Open Me Carefully, which examines Dickinson's letters to Susan and posits a passionate and intimate relationship that went beyond close friendship.
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