Abstract

Explications of Emily Dickinson's 1,775 poems have long attempted to make sense of the poet's tumultuous spiritual journey. Few studies, however, have prioritized her unique use of the Hebrew Bible or what I see as a Midrashic approach to many of its episodes.

A product of nineteenth-century New England Protestantism, Dickinson, like her contemporaries, wrestled with the fragmented Puritan sensibilities that defined the period as well as her personal contribution to that dialogue. Yet the integral role of the Hebrew Bible and Midrash has yet to be fully explored within this dynamic Judeo-Christian conversation—a conversation that provides both an index to the times and Dickinson's spiritual journey. In "Emily Dickinson's Midrash of Jacob and the Angel: Construction of a 'Counter Typology,'" I examine her keen rendering of this text and, by extension, ". . . the ways that her rendering of paradigms provided by key Hebrew Bible figures help to establish a richer understanding of the complex, often adversarial, relationship Dickinson posits with the Almighty."

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