Woman at the Window (review)

Years ago on Ben Yehuda Street in Tel Aviv I found myself fixated by a print in a gallery window. In the painting, a young woman stares curiously from her window, her face resting suggestively in her palm. Behind her, her maid covers herself with her headdress, at once concealing herself from public view and exposing herself. Although a student at the time, I purchased the expensive print—a reproduction of Bartolome Esteban Murillo’s A Girl and Her Duenna (1670). More than the painting’s sheer aesthetics, it was the duality of the women pictured that drew me in.

In Woman at the Window, Nehama Aschkenasy examines the depiction of woman throughout the Hebrew Bible and in comparison to classical literary texts. Whether, as with Murillo, at the window or in a state of movement, Aschkenasy deconstructs how these images inform our contemporary understanding of many of the most basic biblical motifs. From a particularly feminist vantage point, Aschkenasy has in this short and yet insightful and important volume, helped us to confront many classical images, thus bringing further clarity to the manner in which these images underlie our contemporary world.

Notwithstanding Aschkenasy’s focus on the sedentary woman at the window, at the core of biblical heroes and heroines is movement. Whether in quest, flight, or fight, they leave their designated space. In doing so, they chart their own path, their own personal geography. They tell their stories by the roads they travel and the spaces they occupy.

Aschkenasy’s approach to the biblical tales is interesting. In her words, “[o]ne of my objectives was to uncover the cultural standards (and very often, double standards) that drive the tale within its linguistic, ethics, and dramatic fabric” (p. 10). She divides her study into five major chapters: “Woman at the Window”; “Woman on the Road: The Hazards of the Open Space”; “Woman Ventures Out: Mobility and Its Benefits”; “Woman Behind the Scenes”; and “The Palace of Words.” This approach highlights prominent aspects in the life and actions of female characters. It allows for a thematic approach that defines patterns and existing attitudes towards women in the Hebrew Bible.

Aschkenasy is cognizant that the treatment of women differs from that of men in the Bible. In the chapter devoted to the rape and consequent death of the concubine in Judges 19, 20:3–10, she provides a further level of understanding: “As we try to make sense of this tale of atrocity we must distinguish between the purpose of the tale within the Biblical canon and its meaning to us.” This highlights the prominent role the point of view of the reader plays—going back to the essential issue of the text versus the context. This open question vindicates the marvelous literary quality of the Bible that will allow for diverse readings in both the school of exegesis and hermeneutics.

The multi-layered quality of the biblical tale is well expressed by Aschkenasy in the chapter dedicated to women venturing out:

The theme of feminine mobility is triple-edged. Some Biblical tales, like those of Dinah and the concubine in Gibea, serve as cautionary reminders to women of the perils of the open road. Other tales seem to applaud the woman’s daring and show how history rewards the enterprising female. The third kind consists of those tales about female mobility that are saturated with the “fear of women” message and serve as a warning to man. The “wise woman” on the wall is smart, peace-loving, and tender, but also a violator of the rules of hospitality and a traitor to men.

(p. 102)

It is a truism that the freedom accorded to men was not accorded to women in biblical texts. Indeed, Aschkenasy makes abundantly clear that she views the woman as occupying a secondary position. Nonetheless, one can add that despite her prescribed and even confined space the woman is often a three-dimensional character, who, whether in the Hebraic Bible or in the...