Boxenbaum, Barbara Mehl

Contrary to the generally accepted interpretation of Genesis 34 that Dinah, daughter of Jacob and Leah, was raped, What Dinah Thought, by Deena Metzger, and The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant, clearly state that Dinah loved Shechem, the man who was alleged to have raped her, and had consensual sexual relations with him. These twentieth century American novels are written in the rabbinic tradition of interpreting biblical verse, known as midrash. Metzger recreates Dinah as a contemporary Jewish woman, who travels to Israel to find and marry the reincarnated Shechem, a contemporary Arab. In contrast, Diamant imagines Dinah's life in biblical times, tracing her story prior to her birth to her death. This thesis distinguishes Metzger's and Diamant's novels from rabbinic midrash and analyzes whether their interpretation, that Dinah was not raped, is valid.