The Divinity of Nonconformists Crazy, lunatic, mad.... these are words that have become part of society’s everydayvocabulary. Though they are psychological in nature, they are often applied to people andobjects that may not fit into the every day norm. In Emily Dickinson’s “Much Madness isdivinest Sense,” Dickinson criticizes society’s inability to accept non-conformist andexpresses the belief that it is the majority who should be labeled as, “mad.” In the lyrical poem “Much Madness is divinest Sense,” Dickinson concentrates onsociety’s judgmental views of non-conformists. Dickinson utilizes iambic tetrameterthroughout the entire poem. There is, however, one exception; she uses two anapests inline 4: “ ‘Tis the Majority.” By changing the rhythm in this line, Dickinson emphasizesthat it is the majority who is truly mad, and not the minority who have been wronglylabeled so. Dickinson’s quick switch from iambic tetrameter to anapestic also emphasizesthe subject matter nonconformity because it interrupts the flow of the poem. She alsocoheres to the subject of nonconformity in the rhyme scheme. Although it appears to bewritten in free verse, “Much Madness is divinest Sense” does contain a small element ofrhyme. The poem has an A B A C D E A D rhyme. For instance, the words “Sense,”“Madness,” and “dangerous” all rhyme, as well as the words “sane” and “Chain”(1,3,7,6,8). This unique rhyme scheme, once again, adheres to the subject matter ofnon-conformity. It is jagged and different like the individuals that society views as “mad.” In “Much Madness is divinest Sense,” Dickinson distinguishes between madnessand sanity: the beliefs of the majority are sane, whereas those who dissent are consideredinsane. In the first two lines, Dickinso...
