Jewish Culture In Jepte's Daughter

Jephte’s Daughter presents a clear picture of Jewish culture and the role of women in society. In traditional Judaism, woman were seen as partly equal but separate from Man with obligations and responsibilities that were different from that of men. Orthodox Jewish Culture is very distinctive. Many women live in their private family and community life and their primary role is of a wife, a mother and that of a keeper of the house. In Jephte’s Daughter woman are described as “dull, pale creatures, covered up from head to toe winter and summer” (1) sitting at home with their babies taking care of the household chores. Jewish woman had limited education and higher education was rarely heard of among woman. A very few girls were sent to school

Elizabeth is Batsheva's feisty and vibrant non-Jewish best friend. Although with an age difference of a few years Elizabeth knew a lot more about life then Batsheva and was too smart to be played with. She always played the role of a wise old woman and guided Batsheva in whatever she did. Clever as she was, she had made up her mind to search for a boy better than her classmates and was smart enough to realise that all man are not as good as they seem, treating woman as disposals, to be used up for their ideas and bodies and then discarded. Elizabeth had been very careful not to let herself be used by other but instead experimented with using others. She treated life as just a game and had total control over what she did. She believed that people with an open mind get a lot of garbage thrown in and was hence very particular with things regarding culture and its rules on woman. She is a foil to Batsheva and did not believe in any customs or family heritage. While Batsheva was strictly following her Jewish customs, Elizabeth believed in western values. She did not depend on anyone for any of her needs or any financial help. When Isaac harasses Batsheva, she thinks of Elizabeth and how she would punch him in his face and kick him away which shows her strength to stop any kind of ill treatment done to