The Red Tent: Re-imagining Women of the Old Testament
Written: Dec 26 '01 (Updated Dec 26 '01)
Product Rating:
Pros: Beautifully written, touching, interesting characters, new angle on biblical events
Cons: Scenes of violence, childbirth may be too much for some readers. Ugly cover.
The Bottom Line: Wonderful imagining of what life might have been like for some shadowy women of the Old Testament. Women and relationships are the focus, not religion.
ebolles's Full Review: Anita Diamant - The Red Tent
I know I am not alone when I say that most of the depictions of women in the Old Testament are, quite frankly, about as interesting as dirt. The figures who are mentioned in any detail are just a handful of stereotypes: Esther (a Cinderella story), Delilah (the evil temptress who corrupts the good male) and of course, good old Eve (the ultimate human corrupter). There are almost no women depicted beyond their roles as the wives or mothers or seducers of the male prophets or heros.
Those few interesting figures are not well known
One exception to the dull representation of women is the story of Judith, a tale that is either not included at all or considered apocryphal in many versions of the bible. Judith was a wealthy independent woman who answered to no husband or other male and who saved an entire city from destruction using her own wits. Sounds worthy of some serious mention, doesn’t it? The problem: Judith saves her people by using her feminine wiles to get invited to the enemy king’s tent, seduce him, get him drunk and then decapitate him with his own sword while he is passed out in his bed. These are hardly actions that are considered suitable to exemplify proper Christian female behavior, and unfortunately Christian women have generally been told almost nothing about this fascinating figure (I cannot speak to the Jewish tradition on this one, but I would be surprised if it’s much different).
Dinah who? The Red Tent by Anita Diamant speaks to this dearth of interesting biblical women in a big way. Diamant writes about the figure of Dinah, only daughter of Jacob, who receives only minor mention in the bible. Her alleged rape is the catalyst for several of her brothers to murder all the men of her attacker’s city. Other than a few brief sentences, Dinah is a shadow, like most biblical women. Diamant has taken this character and created her entire life in vibrant detail, imagining what life might have been like for women living in thousands of years ago in the Middle East.
Mother to Daughter
As the only daughter of Jacob (Israel), Dinah is all but forgotten among her twelve brothers. It is therefore fitting that she represents the lost wisdom of these ancient women, the forgotten traditions and collective knowledge of women’s lives. Dinah has four mothers, as her father has four wives. Each mother is special is her own way and passes on her own wisdom to her daughter. Dinah is considered especially precious to these mothers as she represents the only link to passing on what they know to future female descendants.
Women are the center, men are the periphery
The beginning of the book focuses on these mothers, especially Jacob’s first two wives, Leah and Rachel, and the world of women. The red tent is where women go every month when they menstruate, as well as for childbirth and recovery from childbirth. This tent is the center of Dinah’s existence as she grows up. The men in the story, the men that are the center of the bible, are on the outside of this tale. Biblical events are merely the framework. The red tent is also where Dinah learns what she needs to know to become a woman, as well as her special gift for midwifery.
Beyond the Red Tent
The book follows Dinah as she grows, as her family leaves the land of her mothers to travel back to Jacob’s family. She eventually falls in love, but her happiness turns to utter devastation when two of her brothers lead the slaughter of her husband and his family, claiming revenge for her being dishonored. She is taken to Egypt and cared for by her mother-in-law, where she gives birth to a son. In Egypt she becomes a renowned midwife, which eventually leads to her reunion with her brother Joseph and a final visit to her family.
Religious beliefs or an interest in the Bible not required
This is not a religious book despite its subject matter and setting. You do not need to be Jewish or Christian to appreciate this story. The god of Jacob has a covenant with men (circumcision) and is not terribly important to Dinah and the other women in their day to day lives. They have their own spiritual traditions and beliefs. This novel is written to fit inside the biblical version of events without debunking them, but the common ground ends there. So anyone seeking religious inspiration should look elsewhere - that is not what this book is about.
A beautiful and moving story, a compelling heroine
For me, there were no big flaws in this book. The writing is generally superb, the characters are well developed and believable and the pacing is strong. However, some people might be turned off by some of the harsher depictions of childbirth (a friend of mine stopped reading the book at page 30 for this reason). But I found this to be a thoroughly engrossing story that even made me reach for the kleenex a few times (not something that happens too often). Highly recommended.
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