Emily Dickinson: The Reclusive Genius of American Poetry
Early Life and Background
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on December 10, 1830, in Amherst, Massachusetts, into a prominent and well-educated family. Her father, Edward Dickinson, was a lawyer and politician, while her mother, Emily Norcross Dickinson, managed the household. The Dickinson family valued education, and Emily attended Amherst Academy and later Mount Holyoke Female Seminary (now Mount Holyoke College), though she left after one year due to health issues and perhaps her discomfort with the institution's rigid religious environment.