Benfey weighs in on āDickinsonā for the NYT
Christopher Benfey, professor of English at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½ College, weighs in on the new show āDickinsonā and its attempts to modernize the famous poet.
Poet Emily Dickinson, a member of the Mount Holyoke College class of 1849, is usually portrayed as āthe Belle of Amherstā ā reclusive, meek and dressed in white.
However, a new show on the Apple+ streaming service, looks to modernize how the poet is portrayed. Christopher Benfey, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of English at ¹ū¶³“«Ć½, has weighed in on the series for the New York Times.
Benfey thinks that the new show positions Dickinson as āthe bad girl of 19th-century American literature.ā Her placement on a Times Square billboard? It āmakes perfect sense.ā
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