Much Madness is divinest Sense

Emily Dickinson never fails to be as confusing as she can be. This poem, however, is a huge paradox. Madness and sense are juxtaposed throughout the whole poem. She says "much madness is divinest sense." This statement, the theme of the whole poem, says that madness in itself is actually sanity. The paradox is effective because it continues throughout the whole poem. It also is effective because there is truth in her statement. The purpose is to state that if the world is mad, it has sense, even though it should be the other way around.