Emily Dickinson and the Religious Imagination

‘Emily Dickinson and the Religious Imagination’ examines Emily Dickinson’s poetry through the rich network of religious myths, symbols, and theological ideas that inform her work.

The book argues that Dickinson’s religious imagery—from biblical figures such as Abraham, Jacob, and Moses to the life, death, and resurrection of Christ—is central to the analogical, or similetic, movement of her verse, where religious narratives provide comparable but not identical experiences to her own.

Moving beyond the familiar focus on Dickinson’s personal faith or skepticism, Linda Freedman situates the poet within American typological traditions, engages her with contemporary and modern theology, and traces significant affinities with Shakespeare and the British Romantics.

Dickinson emerges as a deeply troubled and searching thinker whose poems must be understood within both religious and Romantic intellectual contexts.