History Literature / TheRedTent

* LieBackAndThinkOfEngland: Zilpah views sex with Jacob as this. She only sleeps with him because Leah asked (or ordered) her to, and then only for procreative purposes. She did not enjoy a moment of it, and makes it clear that [[LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain she does not want to regale her sisters with the story of it]].

** Rebecca's reason for being so emotionally distant and surrounding herself by [[WomanInWhite white-clad]] veiled servants all named "Deborah" is [[spoiler: The loss of her nursemaid, Deborah]]

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Re-Nefer eems nice, [[but then takes Dinah's son away from her]].

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: Played with. Rachel believes this, in her bitter sadness over being unable to have children of her own - and she's proven correct when she finally bears Joseph, who immediately becomes Jacob's favourite child. Averted for Leah however; she quickly realizes that bearing Jacob eight children still isn't enough to make him love her as much as he loves Rachel.

%% * BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: At least Rachel thinks so, in her bitter sadness over being unable to have children of her own.

%% * BigScrewedUpFamily: After the destruction of the Shechemites, Jacob's family becomes this. Not that it was much better before.

%% ** Rebecca's reason for being so emotionally distant and surrounding herself by [[WomanInWhite white-clad]] veiled servants all named "Deborah" is [[spoiler: The loss of her nursemaid, Deborah]]
%% ** One possible explanation for Zilpah's intense [[DoesNotLikeMen dislike of men]] is that [[ParentalIncest her father molested her]], and she saw how local men in the area ogled her and her sisters and jeered at Leah for her mismatched eyes.

%% * CallingTheOldManOut

%% * CleanPrettyChildbirth: Very much averted.

%% * DespairEventHorizon:
%% ** The slaughter of Prince Shalem for Dinah.
%% ** Also, the destruction of the Teraphim by Jacob becomes this for Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah, who all die not long thereafter. ''Especially'' Zilpah, who was literally DrivenToMadness by it.
%% * DoesNotLikeMen: Zilpah. She is very reluctant to sleep with Jacob, and does so only once, since giving birth to twin sons nearly kills her.

%% * DrivenToMadness:
%% ** This happens to Zilpah when Jacob destroys the Teraphim. [[spoiler: She becomes physically ill as well, and dies as a result.]]
%% ** This is also how Jacob's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_ladder vision of the angels on the stairs]] (and famed fight with an angel) is viewed by the other characters in Diamant's novel.

%% ** And [[spoiler:Bar-Shalem/Re-Mose, when he learns that his life thus far has been BasedOnAGreatBigLie.]]

%% * HartmanHips: Leah. Hence why she is able to survive giving birth to eight children.

* TheUnfavorite: Just as in {{Canon}}, Leah, although it is clear that she is still loved and cared for, and Jacob is still attracted to her, kust not on the same level as Rachel.

----

** Bilhah is also heavily implied to have committed suicide after her banishment.

%% * RapeAsDrama: Poor Werenro...

%% * ScreamingBirth: Many examples, some more lethal than others.

* BridePrice: Jacob demands an outrageous bride price for his only daughter (which Prince Shalem is both willing and able to pay), which sets into motion the unfortunate turn of events that takes place next.
* BrokenBird:
&& Rebecca's reason for being so emotionally distant and surrounding herself by [[WomanInWhite white-clad]] veiled servants all named "Deborah" is [[spoiler: The loss of her nursemaid, Deborah]]
** One possible explanation for Zilpah's intense [[DoesNotLikeMen dislike of men]] is that [[ParentalIncest her father molested her]], and she saw how local men in the area ogled her and her sisters and jeered at Leah for her mismatched eyes.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Shalem actually waits until marriage in the miniseries in order to have sex with Dinah.

* AdaptationalVillainy: Rebecca in the book is mainly described as "arrogant". In the miniseries, she is shown chastising Werenro.

* AmbiguouslyGay: It is somewhat implied that Zilpah is a lesbian (though she could also be [[{{Asexuality}} asexual)]]
* AncientEgypt: Dinah starts a new life there with her mother-in-law and a servant after her husband is killed.
* TheAlcoholic: Laban.
* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: InvokedTrope. These are Biblical characters, but forget what you were taught about them in Sunday school.

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: At least Rachel thinks so, in her bitter sadness over being unable to have children of her own.
* TheBeautifulElite: Rachel.

* BibleTimes
* BigScrewedUpFamily: After the destruction of the Shechemites, Jacob's family becomes this. Not that it was much better before.

* BreakTheCutie

* BrokenBird: Rebecca's reason for being so emotionally distant and surrounding herself by [[WomanInWhite white-clad]] veiled servants all named "Deborah" is [[spoiler: The loss of her nursemaid, Deborah]]

* ButNotTooBlack: Bilhah

* CallingTheOldManOut

* ChildrenAreInnocent: Played straight with Dinah. Averted with Tabea, who has seen a lot of the adult drama in her family.
* CleanPrettyChildbirth: Very much averted.

* CovertPervert: Dinah takes interest in listening to her older brother and his wife at night.

* DespairEventHorizon: The slaughter of Prince Shalem for Dinah.
** Also, the destruction of the Teraphim by Jacob becomes this for Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah, who all die not long thereafter. ''Especially'' Zilpah, who was literally DrivenToMadness by it.
* [[NaughtyByNight Different In Private]]: The women act differently in the privacy of the Red Tent than they otherwise do. They are more outgoing, and they serve the goddesses of their homeland (rather than the [[{{God}} God of Jacob)]]
* DoesNotLikeMen: Zilpah. She is very reluctant to sleep with Jacob, and does so only once, since giving birth to twin sons nearly kills her.
* DomesticAbuse: Laban treats Ruti so horribly that she [[spoiler: has an abortion so that she won't give him another child]]

* DrivenToMadness: This happens to Zilpah when Jacob destroys the Teraphim. [[spoiler: She becomes physically ill as well, and dies as a result.]]
** This is also how Jacob's [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob%27s_ladder vision of the angels on the stairs]] (and famed fight with an angel) is viewed by the other characters in Diamant's novel.
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Ruti slits her wrists after years of suffering under Laban]]. Also [[spoiler:one of Simon's sons when he learns that his father won his mother by murdering every man in Shechem]].
** And [[spoiler:Bar-Shalem/Re-Mose, when he learns that his life thus far has been BasedOnAGreatBigLie.]]

* TheEmpath: Bilhah
* FaceHeelTurn: Jacob starts off as a genuinely nice, caring person, but as he gains more and more wealth and status, it kind of goes to his head.

* ForeShadowing: Meta. In a very subtle way. Leah wears sky blue. She is Judah's mother. Mary (and Joseph, and thus Jesus) is from the tribe of Judah. Mary is usually depicted wearing sky blue. A very subtle way to foreshadow which of Jacob's wives would be the ancestor of who is probably the most famous Jewish person ever.

* FourthDateMarriage: Dinah has just met Prince Shalem, and shortly afterward, they are a married couple.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: Averted. [[spoiler:Ruti induces a miscarriage so as not to give her husband another child (that he'll probably just abuse) and the other women understand her choice]].

* HartmanHips: Leah. Hence why she is able to survive giving birth to eight children.
* HollywoodHomely: Leah (described in the Bible as being rather plain compared to Rachel) is [[InformedFlaw considered this]] because one of her eyes is green and one is blue, something she feels very self-conscious about. [[spoiler: Only because people used to tease her about it, and she only displays signs of self-consciousness around men.]] [[invoked]]
** Also, years of bearing children and nursing take a toll on her.
* IHaveNoSon: Jacob disowns Reuben for having sex with Bilhah, just as he did in the biblical narrative. He also does the same to Dinah - after the whole business with the Shechemites and her running away, he never spoke her name again and acted as though she had never existed.

* IllGirl: Adah, in her old age
** Also Leah, who wakes up completely paralyzed one day, with no explanation.
** And Zilpah, after she crosses the DespairEventHorizon and is DrivenToMadness.
* InsatiableNewlyweds: Jacob and Leah. Later, Dinah and Shalem.
* IntergenerationalFriendship
* JerkAss: Laban, but also Simon and Levi

* KnightTemplarBigBrother: Simon and Levi
* LawOfInverseFertility: Leah bears many children very easily, but Rachel does not, despite trying every trick Inna has up her sleeves.
** Rachel actually becomes pregnant just as easily as Leah, but is simply unable carry any of her pregnancies to term. She suffers a large number of miscarriages over many years, before her luck finally turns and she gives birth to Joseph.

* [[LostHimInACardGame Lost Her In A Game Of Chance]]: Laban gambles away Ruti. [[spoiler: Leah and Jacob work together to rescue her, though.]]
* LoveAtFirstSight: Dinah and Shalem.
* LoveInterest: Prince Shalem
* LoveTriangle: Between Jacob, Leah, and Rachel

* MamaBear: Adah
* TheMedic: Inna. Later, Dinah becomes this as she becomes a respected midwife along with her friend Meryt.

* {{Miko}}: Zilpah has assumed this role in her family, in a way.

* TheMourningAfter: [[spoiler: Inverted at the end]]

* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Dinah's brothers believe they are [[RapeAndRevenge avenging a rape]] and saving her, and that's not the case in the novel.
** Even before that, when [[spoiler: Leah and Jacob work together to rescue Ruti from being taken away when her husband lost her in a bet.]] Sure, she gets to stay with her family, but her husband starts treating her even worse than he did before.

* NoPreggerSex: Although this is the customary rule, it was averted during Rachel's pregnancy with Joseph.
* NotSoDifferent: Jacob and Esau

* OnlySaneMan: Joseph is the only one of Jacob's sons who seems to have a good head on his shoulders.

* ParentalIncest: Laban molested his daughters (but stopped after his wife punished him severely for it)

* {{Polyamory}}: Just as in the {{Canon}} Bible story, but this time portrayed as orchestrated by the girls themselves (not Laban tricking Jacob into marrying Leah). Also, Jacob actually does love and care for his wives (well, in the beginning anyway), although Rachel is still his favorite.

* ThePowerOfBlood
* ThePowerOfFriendship
* ThePowerOfLove

* RapeAsDrama: Poor Werenro...
* RiteOfPassage: The Ritual of Opening
* TheQuietOne: Bilhah. Dinah is arguably this, particularly after she [[DespairEventHorizon loses her husband.]]
* SecondLove: [[spoiler: Benia and Dinah are both this for each other.]]

* ScreamingBirth: Many examples, some more lethal than others.

** Subverted, however, because Inanna was ''not'' a Mother Goddess. Although sometimes invoked for protection during childbirth and for increasing fertility, she [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inanna was associated with romantic/sexual love and with war]], not family and motherhood. Yet here she is portrayed as being The Great Mother.
** Also, no record of a Ritual of Opening is known from here. (And considering that Mesopotamian culture was very patriarchal, with women viewed as property to be "purchased" at marriage and their "honor" (read: [[NatureAdoresAVirgin virginity]]/[[ChasteHero chastity]]) held as a reflection of their men's honor, it's not likely that such a ritual actually existed there. But ItMakesSenseInContext for the purpose of the story.)
* ShrinkingViolet: Bilhah.
* SiblingRivalry: Rachel and Leah (though not to the same degree as the Biblical story)

* TeamMom: Leah. Also Inna

* TheUnfavorite: Just as in {{Canon}}, Leah, although it is clear that she is still loved and cared for, and Jacob is still attracted to her. (Just not on the same level as Rachel.)
** Also Bilhah, who tends to be somewhat of a loner from the very beginning
* [[VainSorceress Vain Priestess]] Rebecca
* ValuesDissonance: The women of Padan-Aram, who do the Ritual of Opening and celebrate the New Moon together, contrasted to the women of Canaan, who "prove" their virginity to their in-laws with the bloody sheets of the wedding night and are not familiar with the New Moon rituals. [[invoked]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler: Ruti slits her wrists after years of suffering under Laban]] Also [[spoiler: one of Simon's sons when he learns that his father won his mother by murdering every man in Shechem]].
** And [[spoiler: Bar-Shalem/Re-Mose, when he learns that his life thus far has been BasedOnAGreatBigLie.]]

* YoungerMentorOlderDisciple: Meryt states many times that, despite being significantly older than Dinah and having more practical experience, she considers herself Dinah's apprentice in the arts of midwifery, owing to the latter's more advanced skills.

** In the original Biblical text, Laban ''was'' kind of a jerk in his second appearance: he tricked Jacob into marrying Leah when he was supposed to marry Rachel, and forced him to work another seven years to pay for Leah's virginity (after he'd already worked seven years as a bride price for Rachel). But in TRT, Laban is an AlcoholicParent, DomesticAbuser, TheGamblingAddict, as well as the swindler he was in Literature/TheBible.

''The Red Tent'' is a novel written by Anita Diamant, which expands on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah the story of Dinah]] in the [[Literature/TheBible Book of Genesis.]] The original Bible story is about a young girl who was raped by a prince, and her brothers [[RapeAndRevenge killed every man in the prince's city-state for it.]] Diamant's novel expands on the story, and tells it from Dinah's perspective. Her encounter with the prince, for example, is not a rape in Diamant's novel; it was loving and consensual. The story narrates Dinah's life, such as spending time with the women of her family in a red tent designated for their "time of the month." In 2014, it was made into a 2-episode miniseries airing on Lifetime, starring Creator/RebeccaFerguson as Dinah.

''The Red Tent'' is a novel written by Anita Diamant, which expands on [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinah the story of Dinah]] in the [[Literature/TheBible Book of Genesis.]] The original Bible story is about a young girl who was raped by a prince, and her brothers [[RapeAndRevenge killed every man in the prince's city-state for it.]] Diamant's novel expands on the story, and tells it from Dinah's perspective. Her encounter with the prince, for example, is not a rape in Diamant's novel; it was loving and consensual. The story narrates Dinah's life, such as spending time with the women of her family in a red tent designated for their "time of the month." In 2014, it was made into a 2-episode miniseries airing on Lifetime.

* {{Fanfiction}}: It's Diamant's take on a Bibical story, portrayed as "the other side of the story")

* {{Squick}}: The childbirth scenes are described in great detail. [[invoked]]
** Also, the Ritual of Opening, wherein a girl's hymen is broken at her first period with a sacred object called a Teraphim, to offer the resultant blood to Innana.
* TakeThat: One Egyptian maid tells Dinah the story of how Joseph came to work for Pharaoh, and scoffs at his supposed skill at deciphering dreams - seven fat cows and seven full stalks of wheat being devoured in turn by seven withered ones isn't that difficult to interpret.

* {{Tsundere}}: Zilpah, Adah, Leah, Rachel

* NoPeriodsPeriod: Averted; menstruation brings the women into the red tent, and brings them together. They regard it as a gift from the goddess Innana, that allows [[IncrediblyLamePun periodic]] renewal.

** Also, the destruction of the Teraphim by Jacob becomes this for Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, Zilpah, who all die not long thereafter. ''Especially'' Zilpah, who was literally DrivenToMadness by it.

** Also, Bilhah is badly beaten by Jacob after he caught her sleeping with Reuben.
* DownerEnding: For all of Jacob's wives. Zilpah goes insane and dies of a fever shortly after the destruction of their teraphim. Leah wakes up paralyzed one day, and begs her sons' wives to kill her with poison. Rachel dies an agonizing death after giving birth to her second son, and Jacob simply dumps her body at the side of a road. Bilhah is caught sleeping with Reuben, is severely beaten in punishment before being banished, and heavily implied to have committed suicide.
* DreamingOfThingsToCome

* PregnantBadass: Dinah, by this time a seasoned midwife, has the presence of mind to [[spoiler: perform an episiotomy ''on herself'' as she struggles through a difficult birth]]

* ComingOfAge

* DoesNotLikeMen: Zilpah.

* LawOfInverseFertility: Leah conceives very easily, but Rachel does not, despite trying every trick Inna has up her sleeves.
** Rachel actually ''does'' conceive many times, but for whatever reason, cannot carry any of her pregnancies to term, suffering miscarriages early on.

* ParentsAsPeople: Jacob focuses more on his 12 sons than on his daughter, and Leah sometimes loses her patience with Dinah

* ScreamingBirth

* WomensMysteries: The women of Jacob's tribe have their own exclusive secret world, with its own customs and religious beliefs.

** In the original Biblical text, Laban ''was'' kind of a jerk in his second appearance: he tricked Jacob into marrying Leah when he was supposed to marry Rachel, and forced him to work another seven years to pay for Leah's virginity (after he'd already worked seven years as a bride price for Rachel). But in TRT, Laban is an AlcoholicParent, DomesticAbuser, TheGamblingAddict, as well as the swindler he was in TheBible.

* LifetimeMovieOfTheWeek: Was adapted in 2014 into a two-part MiniSeries on {{Lifetime}}.

* {{Lolicon}}: [[ValuesDissonance Well, we would call it lolicon today.]] Inna helps a (married) girl through a [[DeconstructedTrope difficult birth]], [[spoiler: she doesn't make it]], and Inna bitterly comments later that the girl was too young to go through that.
** Later, Dinah helps out with a similar situation, and lashes out at the girl's husband for marrying her and impregnating her so early in life.

* AmbiguouslyGay: Possibly Zilpah (though she could also be [[{{Asexuality}} asexual)]]

* TheAlcoholic: Laban

* BabiesMakeEverythingBetter: At least Rachel thinks so

* BittersweetEnding: Dinah dies peacefully in her old age, surrounded and mourned by her new family, although what's left of her old family barely acknowledges that she ever existed.

* ClingyJealousGirl: Rachel
* CloserToEarth

* ADateWithRosiePalms
* DeathByChildbirth

* DespairEventHorizon: The death of Prince Shalem
** Also, the destruction of the Teraphim by Jacob

* DoesNotLikeMen: Zilpah

* FairFolk: This is what Zilpah hopes she's carrying: a daughter (perhaps some kind of demi-goddess) who will come out fully-formed and magical. [[spoiler: She ends up having twin boys instead, though it almost kills her.]]

* HartmanHips: Leah

* [[IHaveNoSon I Have No Granddaughter]]: Rebecca not only kicks her daughter-in-law out for not performing the Ritual of Opening for Tabea, but [[JerkAss sends Tabea off with her]], even though it wasn't Tabea's fault.

** Also Leah, who wakes up completely paralyzed one day, with no explanation
** And Zilpah, after she crosses the DespairEventHorizon and is DrivenToMadness
* InsatiableNewlyweds

* LoveAtFirstSight

* MercyKilling: [[spoiler: Leah begs for poison, rather than live with her unexplained paralysis, and her servant girls oblige.]]

* NotWantingKidsIsWeird: Tabea mentions that she wants to be a priestess, rather than to be sold into marriage and used as a Baby Factory or risk Death by Childbirth. This is because Tabea has seen a lot of the adult drama in her family, and witnessed Oholibamah suffer in childbirth for days before dying a horrible death. (But the only option open to her besides marriage and motherhood is becoming a priestess.) Because although her family is not without its problems, it is (at least at this point) much more stable than Tabea's, Dinah can't fathom why she (or anyone else) would want to pass up motherhood (which is placed on a very high pedestal in their culture, and especially among the women of Dinah's family.)

* SecondLove: [[spoiler: Benia]]

* ShrinkingViolet: Bilhah

* SomeoneToRememberHimBy: Dinah is left pregnant with Shalem's son, [[spoiler: but is forbidden by Shalem's grieving mother to even acknowledge the child as Shalem's.]]

* WomensMysteries

** In the original Biblical text, Laban ''was'' kind of a jerk in his second appearance: he tricked Jacob into marrying Leah when he was supposed to marry Rachel, and forced him to work another seven years to pay for Leah's virginity. But in TRT, Laban is an AlcoholicParent, DomesticAbuser, TheGamblingAddict, as well as the swindler he was in TheBible.

** Also, no record of a Ritual of Opening is known from here. (And considering that Mesopotamian culture was very patriarchal, with women viewed as property to be "purchased" at marriage and their "honor" held as a reflection of their men's honor, it's not likely that such a ritual actually existed there. But ItMakesSenseInContext for the purpose of the story.)

** In the original Biblical text, the prince (who was unnamed) was a rapist who decided ''after'' the fact that he loved Dinah and wanted to marry her. In the book (and the mini-series), he is a kind and handsome young man who falls in LoveAtFirstSight with her (and she with him), and engages in ''loving, consensual'' sex with her. The reason his village is destroyed in the original is a case of RapeAndRevenge; in the novel, it's because Dinah's greedy older brothers were worried about what would happen to their wealth and power if she married a prince. (It also didn't help that the prince did not ask her father for permission to marry her ''before'' they had sex.)