“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale

The story of Lot’s daughters’ incest with their father in Genesis 19:30–38 has been variously understood as a myth, a trickster tale, and an androcentric phantasy. In this paper, I will use insights gained from trauma theory, as well as from the characters of Emily and Moira in the Hulu adaptation o...

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Autor principal:	Cobb Kirsi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	De Gruyter 2021
Materias:	lot’s daughters hebrew bible trauma theory re-enactment revenge traumatic amnesia insidious trauma Religion (General) BL1-50
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9f54cb72cb594fb9a3c12a84826e5cb1
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id	oai:doaj.org-article:9f54cb72cb594fb9a3c12a84826e5cb1
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9f54cb72cb594fb9a3c12a84826e5cb12021-12-05T14:11:01Z“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale2300-657910.1515/opth-2020-0156https://doaj.org/article/9f54cb72cb594fb9a3c12a84826e5cb12021-06-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1515/opth-2020-0156https://doaj.org/toc/2300-6579The story of Lot’s daughters’ incest with their father in Genesis 19:30–38 has been variously understood as a myth, a trickster tale, and an androcentric phantasy. In this paper, I will use insights gained from trauma theory, as well as from the characters of Emily and Moira in the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, to evaluate the daughters’ actions. Studying the characters in the final form of the text, the women undergo traumatic experiences as their father offers their bodies to be raped (Gen. 19:7–8) and they witness the destruction of their home (Gen. 19:24–25). Consequently, they engage in what could be described as a traumatic re-enactment with their father, where the roles of the perpetrator and the victim are reversed, and the continuation of the patriarchal line is simultaneously guaranteed. Read in conjunction with the fates of Emily and Moira, the daughters’ experience could be summarized in Emily’s observation, “Look at what they’ve turned us into.” In the lives of all the women, the experience of cumulative and direct trauma influenced their decision making as well as the choices they had available. This leaves the audience in a moment of uncertainty, where evaluating the women’s actions becomes a complex, even an impossible prospect.Cobb KirsiDe Gruyterarticlelot’s daughtershebrew bibletrauma theoryre-enactmentrevengetraumatic amnesiainsidious traumaReligion (General)BL1-50ENOpen Theology, Vol 7, Iss 1, Pp 208-223 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	lot’s daughters hebrew bible trauma theory re-enactment revenge traumatic amnesia insidious trauma Religion (General) BL1-50
spellingShingle	lot’s daughters hebrew bible trauma theory re-enactment revenge traumatic amnesia insidious trauma Religion (General) BL1-50 Cobb Kirsi “Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale
description	The story of Lot’s daughters’ incest with their father in Genesis 19:30–38 has been variously understood as a myth, a trickster tale, and an androcentric phantasy. In this paper, I will use insights gained from trauma theory, as well as from the characters of Emily and Moira in the Hulu adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, to evaluate the daughters’ actions. Studying the characters in the final form of the text, the women undergo traumatic experiences as their father offers their bodies to be raped (Gen. 19:7–8) and they witness the destruction of their home (Gen. 19:24–25). Consequently, they engage in what could be described as a traumatic re-enactment with their father, where the roles of the perpetrator and the victim are reversed, and the continuation of the patriarchal line is simultaneously guaranteed. Read in conjunction with the fates of Emily and Moira, the daughters’ experience could be summarized in Emily’s observation, “Look at what they’ve turned us into.” In the lives of all the women, the experience of cumulative and direct trauma influenced their decision making as well as the choices they had available. This leaves the audience in a moment of uncertainty, where evaluating the women’s actions becomes a complex, even an impossible prospect.
format	article
author	Cobb Kirsi
author_facet	Cobb Kirsi
author_sort	Cobb Kirsi
title	“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale
title_short	“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale
title_full	“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale
title_fullStr	“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale
title_full_unstemmed	“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale
title_sort	“look at what they’ve turned us into”: reading the story of lot’s daughters with trauma theory and the handmaid’s tale
publisher	De Gruyter
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/9f54cb72cb594fb9a3c12a84826e5cb1
work_keys_str_mv	AT cobbkirsi lookatwhattheyveturnedusintoreadingthestoryoflotsdaughterswithtraumatheoryandthehandmaidstale
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“Look at What They’ve Turned Us Into”: Reading the Story of Lot’s Daughters with Trauma Theory and The Handmaid’s Tale

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