Sarah’s Sacrifice: Body, Soul and Mind under Gendered Oppression

Abstract: This paper explores the phenomenon of Sarah’s sacrifice which is undeniably gendered. It builds upon Julia Kristeva’s psychoanalytical and linguistic explorations which include above all women’s bodies and gestation processes as a basis for the victimisation of women. Furthermore, Kristeva’s theory explains that women who are exposed to long-term oppression tend to respond in two ways: either they self-sacrifice or they overreact and become perpetrators. This paper will focus on the latter. Firstly, I will re-evaluate and challenge the gendered dichotomy between Abraham and Sarah in the Abrahamic stories Gen 12-25. I will challenge the image of the oppressive and patriarchal Abraham, who mostly does what he is told to do either by God (Gen 12:7; 22:2) or by Sarah (Gen 16:2; 21:10). Secondly, I will depict Sarah as the illustration of Kristeva’s theory of sacrifice according to which the victim becomes a perpetrator. I will argue that Sarah should not be interpreted as an unconditional victim but as an ambivalent character who collaborates with patriarchy and embraces the roles of both perpetrator (in her oppressive attitude towards Hagar in Gen 16 and 21) and victim (when Abraham prostitutes her to pharaoh in Gen 12, to Abimelech in Gen 20, and when he sets out to sacrifice their son Isaac in Gen 22). This paper aims to put forward the results of gendered sacrifice by (i) depicting its double impact, and (ii) shedding light on the often neglected case in which the victim becomes the oppressor.