Madness

"Much Sense-the starkest Madness-
'Tis the Majority
In this, as All, prevail-"
"Much Madness is divinest Sense"
Emily Dickinson


I swear Emily Dickinson's poems get odder and odder each chapter. I think the purpose of this poem is to say that those who are mainstream are supposedly sane, yet those who stray away from mainstream things are dangerous, "And handled with a Chain." "Handled with a Chain" is an overstatement because I doubt that people are literally whipped with a chain; It's moreover trying to say that those who stray from common will be judged by others.

This poem contains many paradoxes throughout it; one is that "Madness is divinest Sense." To say that madness is a 'divine' or good sense sounds insane, but the speaker is claiming that madness is good because you are your own leader. "Madness" allows you to be yourself, be courageous, and stand up for what you believe in. You don't need to follow others--you go your own way. Madness is a divine sense because it involves independence, freedom, and it allows you to think for yourself. Sometimes we all need a little madness..That sounds weird