They shut me up in Prose –

As when a little Girl

They put me in the Closet –

Because they liked me “still”   –

                            ­-They shut me up in Prose by Emily Dickinson

Well-known American poet, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson’s “They shut me up in Prose” poem could be view as a rebellion against social standard.  Usage of constrictive dictions such as “shut,” “closet” and “still,” and placement of emphasis on certain words by capitalizing it mid line or mid-sentence, Dickinson exemplified the difficulties of a female hoping to seek recognition or exploration in a profession that is male dominated.

The combination of “Prose,” “Girl”, “Closet,” and placing it in that order in the poem, the reader can create the image of a little girl (the speaker) with her writing (a form of expression), being confined in a closet, trapped. “Shut me up in Prose” can be interpreted as someone trying to closes her or limits her to just writing in prose. The speaker is not allow to experiment in other form of writing because it is not her place. “Still” is repeated in the next line with an exclamation to stress how ridiculous the speaker fined this notation to be. If given a chance to examine the speaker’s thought, they will realize that their attempt to silence her is unsuccessful.