Dickinson 2019 Series Review

『Poetry, Love, and Identity Intertwined: A Timeless Connection Between Two Souls』

🎥 Series Overview

🎬 Title: Dickinson (2019–2021)
🌍 Country: 🇺🇸 United States
🎞️ Genre: Queer Comedy / Drama / Historical Reinterpretation
🗓️ Production & Broadcast: Apple TV+, 3 Seasons, 30 Episodes
📢 Creator: Alena Smith
👩‍💻 Screenplay: Alena Smith
📺 Platform: Apple TV+

👩‍💼 Cast: Hailee Steinfeld – Emily Dickinson
Ella Hunt – Susan Gilbert

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

🌸 From Pure Friendship to Deep Love

Apple TV+’s original series Dickinson tells the story of 19th-century American poet Emily Dickinson, but it boldly breaks away from the conventions of traditional period dramas. Created by showrunner Alena Smith, this drama vividly portrays Emily’s inner world and her search for self within the restrictions of her time through a modern sensibility and daring anachronism.

⚖️ Anachronism and Modernity

The characters, especially the younger generation, use modern slang and speech, while the soundtrack is filled with contemporary music by artists like Billie Eilish and Lizzo. This sharp contrast with the rigid and restrictive atmosphere of the era makes Emily’s frustration and rebelliousness more immediate and relatable to today’s viewers.

🕊 Visualizing Poetry and Magical Realism

Emily’s poetic imagination is visualized through sequences such as riding in a carriage driven by Death (played by Wiz Khalifa) or her words appearing literally on screen. These elements of Magical Realism illustrate how Emily’s imagination and poetry transcend her lived reality.

🦋 Emotional Resonance and Significance

🎭 Women’s Roles and Feminism

The series’ central theme is Emily’s resistance against the social constraints imposed on women in the 19th century.

• Redefining “Madness”: In one episode, Emily visits a women’s asylum, highlighting how society weaponized the label of “madness” to suppress women’s independence and nonconformity.
• Creation and Femininity: Emily rejects marriage, domestic duty, and the role of the “proper lady,” instead dedicating herself to her one goal: becoming a great writer. For her, writing is both her reason for existence and her escape from suffocating constraints.

🌈 Reframing the Emily–Sue Relationship (Queer Narrative)

Dickinson explicitly depicts Emily’s relationship with her closest friend—and her brother’s wife—Susan Gilbert as romantic and sexual love.

• The “EmiSue” Narrative: The show presents their bond as more than friendship, capturing both the joys and pains of a queer love that was forbidden at the time. Their secret, stolen moments evoke deep empathy, while also emphasizing Sue’s undeniable influence on Emily’s writing, as evidenced by the many poems Emily dedicated to her.
• Historical Basis: This portrayal is grounded in the passionate letters exchanged between the two women and the scholarly interpretations of their relationship.

📜 Fame and the Artist’s Solitude

The series highlights how Emily was unrecognized in her lifetime, with most of her work unpublished or rejected.

• Season 2: The Perils of Fame: Season 2 focuses on Emily’s temptation by fame and her fear of losing her authentic voice. This reflects the historical reality that she remained true to her inner world rather than the public gaze.
• Solitude and Inner Richness: Emily’s reputation as a recluse is reframed as an active choice to withdraw from the noise of the outside world in order to cultivate her artistic vision.

✒️ A Bold and Delicate Portrait Bridging Past and Present

Dickinson sacrifices historical precision in favor of affective accuracy. By reconstructing the inner life of a brilliant young 19th-century woman artist in the language and sensibilities of today’s youth, the series shows that her struggles—writing, forbidden love, and conflict with society—still resonate deeply with modern audiences.

Its daring style, serious themes, and Hailee Steinfeld’s captivating performance combine to make Dickinson a groundbreaking reimagining of the literary biopic. The series resurrects Emily Dickinson not as a static museum portrait, but as a living, breathing, struggling heroine of the present.

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★★★