Dickinson: While Dickinson
does discuss matters of life and death and the soul in many of her poems, her view
differs greatly from the American Romantic poets before her. While their poems are
filled with praise for God and a desire to perfect the soul in order to please God (See
Holmes' "Chambered Nautilus" as an example of this.), Dickinson focuses more on personal
experience and human emotions. Her "Heart! We will forget him" and "Because I could not
stop for death" demonstrate that Dickinson was interested in the typical human
experiences--healing a broken heart and pondering death--but her interest is much more
human-centered than "heavenly"
focused.
Howells: Howells
represents an even more distinct rebellion against traditional religion. His
A Modern Instance discusses the breakup of a marriage, which
according to traditional Christian beliefs is sacred and a symbol of Christ's
relationship with the church. While Howells' predecessors like Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow praised the virtues of their spouses and idolized purity of spirit in
marriage, Howells strove to portray humans as common folks who struggled with flaws and
practical, everyday life.
Twain:
Of the three authors mentioned in your question, Twain is arguably the
most obvious satirist of traditional religion. Almost all of his novels mock the
hypocrisy in Christians from Twain's time period (The Widow Douglass owning slaves even
as she is a "good Christian woman" who tries to help civilize Huck; or Huck's struggle
to do what his conscience dictates rather than what his "moral," religious society tells
him is right--to turn in a runaway slave who will then be sold and separated from his
family.)
All three authorswrote after and in response
toAmerica's Idealistic Romantic period in which religion was praised, moral virtue
upheld, and nature extolled. Their writing as Realists (or in Dickinson's case as one
of the founders of New American Poetry) focuses on the gritty reality and practicality
of life.
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