Much Madness is divinest Sense: Analysis

"Much Madness is divinest Sense" is definitely one of my favorite poems by Emily Dickinson because of the use of paradox  to describe madness. At first I perceived the poem to be extremely vague because madness and insanity is such an abstract concept.  However, as we looked more in depth into the poem during our Socratic Seminar discussion, the structure of the poem is actually more of a mathematical equation with symmetrical properties. In the first line, Much Madness = divinest sense, while in the third line, Much Sense = the starkest Madness. Equating madness with sense and vice versa is considered as a paradox in our social norms. Madness is usually frowned down upon by society as someone who is unable to reason logically.

In the poem, the speaker also uses a commanding and absolute tone which indicates that there is no middle ground. When you're mad, you possess the highest form of sense but if you're full of sense, you possess madness. This absolute tone is also further illustrated in the sixth and seventh line: "Assent- and you are sane- Demur- you're straightaway dangerous." Therefore assenting equal to staying sane, while agreeing equals danger in becoming insane.  What makes this poem thought-provoking is the strong use of paradox since agreeing with the majority is usually attribute to normality whereas disagreeing makes the odd one out, therefore less normal. However, since the first two lines paradoxically define madness and sense, the whole poem follows the logic of how those who are mad are those with the most sense.

In the last line of the poem, those who demur and are "handled with a Chain" portrays people who demur as being punished for going against the majority. Chains indicate a sense of the lack of freedom which poses a barrier to your own imagination and self-expression. I think the speaker is trying to convey that although those who are mad have the divinest sense, the majority who are in the "Much Sense" category will inevitably dictate the social norms. Being handled with a chain doesn't necessarily mean a direct control how someone else's freedom, but it can also indicate that madness is always handled with chains therefore it cannot exist in its truest form of madness.