History Series / Dickinson

* WalkAndTalk: In "[[ElectionDayEpisode We lose - because we win]]".

* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces:
** Sue is shown getting oral sex from Austin in the barn.
** Later, Sue and Emily have sex in the garden.

* WhamLine: Sue tells Emily, [[spoiler: 'The only time I feel things is when I'm with you.']]

* WildTeenParty: A very modern teen party takes place in episode 3. Of course, the soundtrack is classical piano and the rowdy kids are taking opium.
* HistoricalPersonPunchline: Creator/SylviaPlath in season 3
* HistoricalRelationshipOverhaul: Dickinson experts still remain divided on the nature of real life Emily and Sue's relationship but the show goes at it full hilt. See also AdaptationalSexuality
* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Sam Bowles was a dear friend of Emily and Sue's in real life. To a lesser extent, Jane. She and Emily only seem to dislike each other in season 1, but were good friends in real life.
* HistoricalDomainCrossover: Emily meets Creator/HenryDavidThoreau, Creator/LouisaMayAlcott, Frederick Law Olmstead, Creator/EdgarAllanPoe, Creator/WaltWhitman, and Creator/SylviaPlath. She doesn't meet her as far as we know, but Sojourner Truth is also existing in Amherst in season 3.
* AbusiveParents: Edward to all of his children in some ways. Only shown as physical with Emily.
* AfterlifeExpress: Death travels around in a black carriage pulled by ghost horses.
* TeensAreMonsters: Anna and Clara
* BigEater: Sam Bowles seems to be shown eating a lot.

* WildTeenParty: A very modern teen party takes place in episode 3. Of course, the soundtrack is classical piano and the rowdy kids are taking opium.

* AnachronisticSoundtrack: Set in 1852-53, the soundtrack is made up of 21st century hip hop, pop, and indie rock.

* MamasBabyPapasMaybe: [[spoiler:Austin states he's unsure whether Sue's baby was sired by him or not, due to her affair.]]

* SecretRelationship: Emily and Sue's relationship is romantic/sexual, with them clearly in love. Naturally it's kept from everyone else, since this was completely taboo at the time. When they're once caught kissing by Austin, the pair then quickly pass it off as Sue doing so in "thanks" to Emily.

* TwoPersonPoolParty:
** Emily and Sue share a bath in "You can not put a fire out".

* TwoPersonPoolParty: This seems to be Emily and Sue's thing.
** Emily and Sue start up their relationship again by sharing a bath, where they have sex.
** They do the same thing again in the wake of Sue's LoveConfession.
** Emily and Sue again share one in "You can not put a fire out".

%%* TheCaptivityNarrative: Invoked by Lavinia in "Alone, I cannot be."

* HasTwoMommies: {{Discussed}} when Sue is heavily pregnant and wistfully wishes she could raise the baby with Emily, asking why children can't have two mothers.

* BrokenPedestal: Emily with [[spoiler:Thoreau]]. He starts out as one of her heroes, but upon meeting him, Emily finds that he's really a lazy, entitled man who grossly exaggerated his whole "living in the woods" claims and is contemptuous of her over being an unpublished poet. [[spoiler:Thoreau]] [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] it by saying "never meet your heroes" to Emily.

* CaughtWithYourPantsDown: Austin is caught masturbating by his mother (unbeknownst to him, as his eyes are closed). She looks shocked and beats a hasty retreat.

* ADateWithRosiePalms: Austin masturbates with his eyes closed on the couch to get "inspiration" for writing.

* BisexualLoveTriangle: Austin/Sue/Emily in season 1, and eventually Sam/Sue/Emily in season 2. Emily and Sue however end up as each other's true love though.

* WildTeenParty: A very modern teen party takes place in episode 3. Of course, the soundtrack is classical piano and the rowdy kids are taking opium.
* WhiteGuilt: Emily wants her black servant, Henry, to play Shakespeare (Othello) even when he doesn't want to, so she can feel good about herself. When it ends up going wrong and she complains life shouldn't be this way, he tells her that she's a relatively safe white woman with a nice house, where she can have cake and is looked after. It's particularly heartbreaking is how Henry notes that she has her ''father'' to protect her. Consider the time they live in and how awful things were for slaves, how frequently families were broken up and destroyed. It's very likely that Henry never knew his father, and he certainly wouldn't have been able to protect Henry from the circumstances of their lives (he could have been a free black man, although this may indicate otherwise-even then it's possible he'd been {{born into slavery}}).

* LiteraryAllusionTitle: Appropriately, the real Emily Dickinson's poems are uses as the basis of episode titles, along with being quoted frequently. Emily is seen writing many of them during the series.

* LoveConfession: In "You cannot put a Fire out" Sue passionately confesses her love to Emily, saying it's the only true thing she'll ever feel. Emily reacts by kissing her fiercely. Their love had been obvious already, though neither ever said it before.

* QueerEstablishingMoment: In the finale of the pilot, Emily and Sue's empassioned kiss shows they have an existing intimate relationship that is then a main theme during the series.

* TransTribulations: A patient at the asylum (who was assigned female at birth) was committed because of their gender. They're dressed in a Union Army uniform, so it's indicated to stem from having joined up while presenting as male but seen as a woman once found out, at a time when this wasn't allowed. Like the other patients, they have no hope of release in the immediate future.

** Emily to Sue following their lovemaking: "I feel sorry for the dead today.".

* RightThroughTheWall: Implied. In the episode "You can not put a fire out", as Emily and Sue lie in the garden after making love, Emily reflects that she already feels sorry for the dead that day. [[note]]''In other words, they were loud enough to wake the dead.''[[/note]]