Dinah's Rape

1321 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender roles in the hesiod and the bible

The Hebrew Bible offers a complicated engagement with the intense topic of sexual assault. The account of Lot’s rape by his daughters in Genesis 19 depicts how the Bible seems to not completely reject sexual violence, considering the daughters do not receive a punishment. The text instead seemingly awards the daughters with offspring for this action, which suggests a justification of this behavior in certain situations. Genesis 34’s account of the rape of Dinah, on the other hand, condemns sexual assault through the harsh punishment Shechem receives. However, given the two differing accounts of sexual assault, the similarity in the texts’ use of the rapes as narrative devices further problematizes the stories because it diminishes the seriousness …show more content…

Dinah’s brothers react to the assault by killing Shechem and “[killing] all the males” in his city for the violation of Dinah (Genesis 34: 25-27). Here, the text presents an attempt at justice to compensate for Dinah’s rape, suggesting a position against assault. The text suggests the rape’s intensity by matching it with a forceful reaction to argue that Dinah’s rape is not justifiable. Although the text seemingly supports Dinah, it fails to give her a voice when it features her brothers and father speaking and acting for her. Instead of Dinah directly recounting the assault, the text notes that “Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter” (Genesis 34: 5). By doing so, the text restricts Dinah's identity to depend on others, which contradicts the previous notion of siding with her through Shechem’s punishment. On the other hand, the text gives rhetorical power to the perpetrator while silencing the victim when Shechem openly speaks in this scene. Since the only role Dinah seems to serve in the text is a catalyst for her brothers’ slaughter of Shechem, the text once again utilizes the rape of a character as a narrative tool, which lessens the seriousness of rape. Although the text appears to reject sexual violence through Shechem’s punishment, its relegation of Dinah’s identity to other characters and its use of the rape as a narrative plot device complicates this by diminishing Dinah’s power as a

Show More
Related

  • The Kitchen House By Kathleen Grissom: An Analysis

    978 Words  | 2 Pages

    p134). The quote which are the holy words of God testifies that a wicked person who has sex

    Read More

  • The Sotah Ritual in Ancient Israel

    4281 Words  | 9 Pages

    In the Hebrew Bible, adultery is considered a capital crime, punishable by the population stoning the adulterous wife and her lover to death. Deut. 22:20 commands this communal punishment in order to “sweep away evil from Israel.” The question remains as to why this crime was considered to be such a transgression. Several explanations exist to account for the seriousness of the crime.

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Genesis And Housekeeping

    1772 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Genesis, the reader see the stories of Lot and Noah but don’t get any insight into their wives. Through closer examination of the allusions of Lot’s wife and Noah’s wife from the novel Housekeeping, readers are able to see another side of these women. The allusions are used to greater enhance the novel’s theme of critiquing a male dominated society, because we see in these Bible stories that these women were in the shadows of important men. However, they distort the original Bible stories by giving the women a voice with new characteristics and motivations for their actions that alter the initial message. In the novel, although there are many more biblical allusions, there are none of the stronger women from the Bible like Rahab or Deborah, which downplays the importance of women in the

    Read More

  • The Story of Lot and His Daughters

    819 Words  | 2 Pages

    As discussed in class, the Old Testament is a story of the constant struggle between the Lord and his authority, and humans and their rebellion. God brings down punishment upon Man, but saves a few righteous individuals. It is within the framework of this constant struggle that the rules of an evolving society are laid down and recorded. In the story of Lot and his daughters, we see the taboos of disobedience to the Lord, incest and poor hospitality condemned.

    Read More

  • Feminist Hermeneutics And Biblical Studies Summary

    711 Words  | 2 Pages

    Trible has three main focuses in her article that include, “the inferiority, subordination and abuse of women in ancient Israel”, “the counter literature that is itself a critique of patriarchy”, and “the stories of terror about woman” (Trible). Each one sums a different oppression that women in the Bible faced. These ideas suggest that the overall purpose of her article is to identify that while women were viewed as a “helper” to men, God viewed them as much more (Trible).

    Read More

  • The Gortyn Law Code In Ancient Greece

    1380 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Gortyn rape was illegal, whereas in the city state of Sparta during a similar period the rape of an individual women was not a crime and the rape of women by young men was even encouraged . Under Draconian law in Ancient Greece rape was similar to that of Sparta in that it wasn’t illegal. However, the consent of women during sex was irrelevant to Draconian law who saw it was a man’s responsibility to take what he could if he was in the position of power . However, as time passed in certain societies, such as Athens and Gortyn, rape was made illegal, the punishments for this crime did differ between societies and social classes. In Gortyn rape was punished by fines. The fine of slaves for committing a rape was double that of rape committed by a free person, whereas the punishment for rape committed by a free person on a slave or apetairoi was one tenth what it would be for raping a free person . Athenian law punished rape far more seriously, with both Plato and Aristotle both mention any man who violates a women may be killed by the women, her father, brother or son . This one example helps show the differing social and political rights of both male and female citizens in different social classes in Gortyn. It also aids to display a crucial social custom in Ancient Greece that is acceptable, and expected for close male relatives to protect and seek

    Read More

  • Looking for Tolerance in a Postmodern World

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first century morality was not unlike our twenty-first century morality. Premarital and extra-marital affairs exist in both. Prostitution is common in both centuries. The speed in which sexual perverseness can occur in today’s society can occur at a much more rapid rate due to the Internet, however, with the same outcome as it was then, the defiling of one’s body, a body that belongs to God. God forgives us as Christians, as King David wa...

    Read More

  • What If Dinah Was Raped Summary

    892 Words  | 2 Pages

    When you first read the words of Genesis 34, you might think that Dinah was raped by Shechem. The reason for this mistake is because in modern time we have a definition of rape that is different from the early days of the bible. According to Merriam Webster's Dictionary, rape is defined as

    Read More

  • The Marquise of O by Kleist

    1172 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...appearance with a sense of revulsion and harshness, which shows the differing nature in which males are able to evade serious repercussions as well as responsibility whereas females are left for judgment. In this way, the text appears to lower the significance and value of having knowledge and being informed while simultaneously highlighting the deceptive and complex nature that lies within each individual.

    Read More

  • Authority in Lisa Cahill’s “Homosexuality"

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cahill sees Scripture as having three dimensions, which she defines as “the specific texts on the issue at hand, specific texts on related issues, and general biblical themes or patterns” (64). For specific texts, she mentions Leviticus, Deuteronomy, and Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, the Romans, and Timothy. Citing the historical and social contexts of the Old Testament texts, she dismisses them as not easily applicable to modern society (65). When she considers Paul, she questions whether his lists of sins translate well into modern moral discourse because of Paul’s primary concern with idolatry and because of the Greek model of homosexuality, which greatly differs from modern homosexual relationships that resemble marriage (65). Though she does not specifically state it, implicit in these references to historical context is doubt about the Spirit-inspired nature of the Scriptures. In questioning the ability of the Scriptu...

    Read More

  • Christine Pizan's The Book Of The City Of Ladies

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    She then offers fruit to Adam which leads to them being cast out of paradise. Yet, Adam didn’t have to take the fruit, did he? Details and context are often not considered when it comes to the actions of women within literature. The men are simply supposed to keep the women safe, and if they fail to do so, it is only the fault of the woman. The fault of men is often looked over in literature, which makes women look bad.

    Read More

  • Essay On Sexuality In The High Middle Ages

    2427 Words  | 5 Pages

    These violent acts were even written about within Medieval literature concerning ‘courtly’ love, although many authors on the subject denounced the act of rape. Despite the Church’s decision on the immorality of sex, even prostitution still existed during the era, legalized in many areas as permitted only to keep men from committing more grievous

    Read More

  • Women in the Canterbury Tales

    2217 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the ages, the story of the original sin is used to explain the struggles of women and why they are inferior to man. Eve “took of [the forbidden tree’s] fruit and ate” (Genesis 3:6), and as punishment, God made it so “[her husband] shall rule over her” (3:16). As an important text during the lifetime of the characters who tell the collection of stories that compose the Canterbury Tales, most of the pilgrims were familiar with this scripture and believed that the Bible’s word was law. For that reason, the popular belief of the time was that women were inferior to their male counterparts. However, a couple of characters in the tales challenge this viewpoint and show that women were also capable of making their own choices. As the pilgrims struggle with the issue of where women belong, their view of Eve in the story of original sin is altered as well. From mild indifference to intimate involvement, each pilgrim has a different attachment to the story of the Eve, and their views on women in society are reflected in their connection to the story.

    Read More

  • Gender Expectations In Orpheus And Eurydice

    1848 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice embodies a contrast between how man acts and how man is expected to act. An interpretation of the mythological characters Orpheus and Eurydice disprove male gender expectations, while the biblical figures of Lot and his wife affirm female gender expectations. In the story of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orpheus is the one that looks back before instructed to, and in the story of Sodom and Gommorah, Lot’s wife looks back but both actions led to extreme consequences. With gender expectations in mind, homosexuality is introduced as well. Throughout the years, it is evident that gender expectations have been disrupted, and mankind’s judgements on homosexuality is more lenient.

    Read More

  • Women's Inferior Status in The Bible

    1023 Words  | 3 Pages

    The negative view of the female sex continues in Leviticus, in a section dictating the re...

    Read More

More about Dinah's Rape

Open Document