How The Tasks Of Jacob Revealed In The Red Tent

The Red Tent is a well researched novel about the women of biblical times; specifically, the wives of Jacob, and his only daughter, Dinah. The separation between the world of men and the world of women was mental, spiritual, as well as physical. The women had traditionally 'feminine' jobs, which for years have been looked down upon by men and eventually even other women, but the women of The Red Tent knew the importance of their tasks and did not allow the prejudiced men to tell them otherwise. In reality, they had few rights, and the ones that they did have were not strictly enforced. However, the women actually had opportunities to use those chauvinistic laws to their own advantage, or to help their fellow females. Relationships between the
They had so many tasks in fact that a man having multiple wives was necessary for the women, because one woman alone could not manage everything. Even with four women sharing the tasks of chief wives, they still went to bed late and rose early. Not even Jacob's success and their accumulation of more and more wealth allowed them a day of rest. As Dinah said,
The family's good fortune and increasing wealth were not entirely the result of Jacob's skill, nor could it all be attributed to the work of the gods. My mothers' labours accounted for much of it. While sheep and goats are a sign of wealth, their full value is realized only in the husbandry of women. Leah's cheeses never soured, and when the rust attacked wheat or millet, she saw to it that the affected stems were picked clean to protect the rest of the crop. Zilpah and Bilhah wove the wool from Jacob's growing flocks into patterns of black, white, and saffron that lured traders and brought new wealth.
Despite their obvious value, women were not considered important, or anything to be respected. With few rights and fewer people to fight for them, the odds of women being mistreated in Dinah's time was incredibly
However, there were always certain loopholes or bribes; little tactics that the women could employ to achieve their ends. When Leah begged Jacob to save Ruti from the slave trader, she bended knee to him, something that completely shocked Dinah who knew her as imperious and demanding as she was with the women. She flattered him and praised him, submitting herself as weak and forming it as a favour to her for her affections, and after he saved Ruti all of the women of the camp baked and cooked special treats for him for weeks