The Red Tent

I am not sure if I have reviewed Anita Durmaint's book The Red Tent previously, I only know it is one of my favourite books so, it is possible.  However, this review is of the miniseries based ON the book.  People in the know will already knows that it is about Dinah, the only Daughter of the Matriarch Leah and Jacob/Israel.  In Torah her story is but a few tragic lines, Dinah is nothing more than a object, a plot device, but The Red Tent tells HER story and Herstory.  I LOVE it for that.

Of course Jacob also had four wives, Leah Rachel Bilhah and Zilaph.  And since I have an interest in all things Polygamy, I would take a particular interest in that aspect of the story.  As evidenced by the story it comes from, the marriages are highly heirarchal, with Bilhah and Zilaph given to Jacob as part of a dowry for Rachel and Leah and of course, again as in the source material, Jacob loved Rachel "the most" which, of course, is like the No No phrase in any sort of Polygamous marriage.  Dinah claims she will be smarter and luckier in love because she won't share her man, but those two instances are the only two small Poly negatives in the whole first episode,

The women clearly love each other and although they deal with personal pain, it is never translated on screen as petty jealousies.  The dignity of the matriarchs and Dinah is translated so well that all I could think the whole time was 'I wish I could follow in their footsteps and live like my life was a prayer'.  I can't really imagine nomadic life in a tent in the Ancient Near East was very glamorous but it still looks lovely, it looks peaceful

The four wives of Jacob