#Dickinson 1x01

[forbescaroline]

235 FAVORITE SHIPS OF ALL TIME (ranked by my followers) 87. emily dickinson and sue gilbert - dickinson

[uncleasad]

Last Saturday, after reaching the end of my energy for working on the (now-resolved) Wattpad fic thief situation, I sat down and watched the first episode of Dickinson and found it both enjoyable and fascinating.

As someone whose familiarity with the historical Emily Dickinson was limited to the standard school synopsis of “one of America’s premier poets, though a recluse writing on scraps of paper whose work was only discovered after her death,” it was eye-opening to see a vibrant, active—and, yes, rebellious!—younger Emily. Reading up afterwards, it’s wild to contemplate what caused this drastic (yet somewhat slow) transformation.

Also shocking (here, head-exploding rather than pearl-clutching) was the very brief scene of Austin’s efforts to obtain Sue’s hand in marriage. While certainly not a new act, it is taking place during the Victorian era (and, yes, in the United States, but in absence of a background in the specific social and cultural history, it always feels that the Victorian mores are used as a convenient shorthand for those of the entire English-speaking world; after all, the US was the only English-speaking country independent of the British Empire at the time!)—in the early 1850s, assuming Austin’s marriage and Edward’s political campaign are historically placed, and in the historically-Puritan-influenced New England. Pleasuring one’s spouse (particularly future spouse, outside of marriage) seems an unusual thing for a man of this era to be concerned with, but perhaps Austin was pulling out all the stops to finally gain Sue’s assent to his proposal (being as she was the only eligible young woman in Amherst who didn’t want him).

(One of the most fascinating parts of putting the history of the United States in a global context—which we nearly universally fail to do for the history prior to the First World War—is the sheer length of Victoria’s reign and the number of significant events in US history she would “witness” from across the pond. In the American context, she’s Queen before the Civil War–specifically, from just months after the end of the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, through the annexation of Texas, the slavery debates, the Mexican War and westward expansion to the Pacific coast, the Civil War and Reconstruction, and the Spanish-American War, to just months before the Presidency of Teddy Roosevelt—all the way through the dawn of the 20th Century. At the end of her reign, Victoria had been Queen of the United Kingdom for fully half of the history of the United States at that time!)

As someone who was, well, alive over the past few years, I of course knew of EmiSue, so the encounter in the orchard was not the surprise it would have been had I seen the series when it was originally released. Thus, the “most interesting” development for me was actually the last scene with Emily and her father, in her bedroom late at night, after Edward’s explosion at dinner over Emily’s announcement her poem will be published. I was utterly fascinated by the man’s enormous “separation anxiety” (we’d seen a tiny glimpse of it when Austin announced the engagement and floated the idea of going west—to the wilds of Detroit!), his fear of being abandoned by his children, and, perhaps, specifically Emily (whom we’ve seen he adores…so long as she does not use that brain of hers he has nurtured via years of schooling and gifts of books!).

I didn’t see anything in Edward’s Wikipedia biography that either alluded to the fear as historical fact or provided a possible rationale for it, so I’ll be curious to see if the series provides any explanation for it. (Did he have siblings who moved away and that led his father to lose himself in the bottle? A best friend, or something? I do have a few notations in the here-since-the-dawn-of-the-nation branches of my ancestry where folks “went west and were never heard from again,” so that’s a legitimate fear for someone of this era to have [likewise, I wonder if relatives still in Europe wondered the same about my immigrant ancestors?]) It’s particularly interesting since Edward’s political campaign and office, if elected, would have him apart from his family for long periods of time…but as long as he can always find them back in Amherst, it’s fine? He is a man of many contradictions, this Edward Dickinson.

(And, yes, I do indeed see the irony in the fact that this is a series centered upon a woman—a proto-feminist, at that—yet, in the first episode, the most thought-provoking bit for me was the old man 😂 Next episode I’ll be all about Emily, I hope! I don’t know if I’ll actually do one of these posts for each episode—lord knows I didn’t for Legacies—but presumably I will at least once more 😂)

[mswyrr]

Dickinson ep 1x01 and 1x02

I finally started watching this. Really like it! Intentionally anachronistic stories can grate for me, but this works because the underlying motives and feelings of the characters are accurate, their expression of those is just translated into "modern" dialogue.

If the emotional and practical (how power and social roles work in this society) content of a conversation between an elder brother and his sister is accurate to a period, I don’t mind if the writer chooses to express that by translating it into modern language.

It’s the (a) lack of research about the mentalities and social/practical restrictions of an era and (b) incoherence of the “world-building” that leads to that most bug me about many anachronistic historical stories.

I especially have a huge peeve about when a writer valorizes their own ignorance by focusing on a heroine who is “not like all the other girls” and has modern views that existed nowhere in her time and place. Many stories treat that like her being more modern automatically makes her better than women who have more accurate views. It’s so cheap and insulting? And a writer, again, trying to celebrate their own lack of research. They didn’t bother to find out what progressive/unusual views existed within the time period.

That isn’t done here at all. All the characters' dialogue is translated into "modern" language and yet none of them are separate from their world and its logic. It’s an artistic choice by a writer who has (I double-checked at the Dickinson museum website) done her research and she’s making an informed creative decision.

[whatimdoing-here]

Dickinson

Beginning 1x01 | End 3x09

[hailesteinfeld]

Dickinson Pilot Script Written by Alena Smith

[wlwshipper]

[booasaur]

For that other anon who asked if Dickinson is gonna be gay, it's already confirmed that Emily and Sue kiss in i think the first episode.

Ah, thanks! There you go, other anon.

Not a big deal, since I’m going to be using the spoiler tag anyway, but just to be on the safe side, maybe in future preface the ask with “Spoiler!” or something like that? I know it’s a gray area even with my gifsets, because even when I tag with spoilers, how do people know to tag if that’s the first time they’re seeing it, I get the difficulty. But you know, it’s at least better to include the option if it’s available. :)

[onscreenkisses]

Promise me something, Sue. Okay, promise me two things.. One: that you won’t move away to Michigan. And two: that you’ll always love me more than him.

DICKINSON, 1x01 - “Because I Could Not Stop”

[cesaray]

[dickinsontrash]

“You were late.”

“Most people would be glad if I never came.”

“Not me...I always want to see you.”

🥀🖤💀

[theedorksinlove]

EMILY DICKINSON & SUE GILBERT  ⤷ dickinson ✗ 1x01 - ‘because i could not stop’

[hailesteinfeld]

‘Dickinson’ Season 1 (2019)

[pelideswhore]

HELEN OF SPARTA

~~ as she is ~~

Poem by Emily Dickinson // Easy On Me, Adele // unknown art // unknown art // Portrait of Lady Manners, Thomas Lawrence // Tango Dancer, Ghost Quartet // An Oresteia, trans. Anne Carson // Farewell Wanderlust, The Amazing Devil // The Iliad of Homer (3.228), Alexander Pope // Fleabag 1x01 // The Odyssey, Emily Wilson // Speechless, Naomi Scott

[raypakorn]

HAILEE STEINFELD in DICKINSON 1x02 & HAWKEYE 1x01

[queerstudiesnatural]

Homenatural Part 1 (Part 2)

1x01 Pilot // Taylor Swift, my tears ricochet // 1x09 Home // Emily Dickinson, Returning // Tyler Blackburn, Would You Come Home

[myheartbeside]

Dickinson 1x01 // Dickinson 3x07