Bad Romance

Anonymous

So I tried looking for a photo of the character of Aseneth on Google Image search for tonight's blog, but I honestly just don't think any of the photos did her justice.  For instance....

This is not the kind of photo I pictured in my head when I read the text tonight out loud in class.  I pictured more of a woman who is exotic, glamorous and bejeweled. And the man being, well, as Ben so aptly put it in class in reference to Aseneth, HOT.   When Professor Finitsis dedicated this specifically to me and let me read the part of Aseneth, wife of Joseph, I sort of became Aseneth.  Just a little!  Never having heard this story before, I honestly had no idea what to expect, but it certainly exceeded any expectation I had.  The ability to act out a biblicial text so that we can all see how it applies to us today is just something we cannot do with another Professor besides the one and only Professor Finitsis for sure!  "Ashley, this is your time to shine!"  He said to me as he asked me to read the part of Aseneth.  My exact thought was, in that moment, "Well, now's a good a time as any!"  And I just let myself experience the text in the way I felt it was meant to be experienced.  The role of Antigone, a depressing one, I found today, was certainly not meant for me.  Aseneth, on the other hand, with her jewels and ivory tower, well, that's another story.  Some people, like most of my other classmates have trouble with this sort of exotic romance.  Being an avid reader of romance novels (shout out to Nora Roberts here) I am definitely skilled at letting my mind wander to the scene of the romance, and have NO qualms about it.

For instance, the "Born In" trilogy by Nora Roberts, which I finished reading on this trip, takes place in County Clare, Ireland.  I have no problem at all picturing the rolling green hills, the smoky pubs, the way the light relfects off the hills and the way Murphy Muldoon (total heartthrob and Irish Farmer) looks and, ESPECIALLY the way he talks.  Come ON, honestly what girl on the planet can resist an accent?!  But it's mostly for me, the pull between the two extremes within myself that I find myself able to picture these scenes such as the Aseneth and Joseph story and the romance between Shannon and Murphy in "Born in Shame". 

The "pull" I speak of is that I am both a Susanna and an Aseneth.  We read the Apocryphal text of Susanna before traveling to Greece back at PLU, and it has had to sit with me for a while just how much of a powerhouse this girl is.  Her ability to think quickly on her feet and get out of her awful situation of almost being raped by, quite frankly, dirty old men and pigs is amazing to me.  Especially when thought about in the historical context.  The pull I speak of is part of me wanting to be a Susanna, and being that strong, capable smart woman, but another part of me wants to be the glamorous, beautiful and alluring personality that Aseneth was in the story.  Then I question, can't I be BOTH?  I am a teeny bit cynical about being both for someone someday, but I suppose I just have to let the chips fall where they will, be myself, let go of all my worries, and it will happen when I least expect it, as everyone says.  We all need to be an Aseneth at some points in our lives, and a Susanna at others, that is something I have learned.  Oh well, no one can have ALL the answers I suppose, unless you are a friend to Lady Wisdom, of course.