Bad Romance

Today in class we talked about the romance that occurred between Joseph, as in Joseph and the cloak of many colors, and Aseneth of Egypt. Aseneth was the virgin daughter of an Egyptian priest who was extremely wealthy but he locked her up in a tower because she was very beautiful and her father wanted to keep her pure. She turned down all of the suitors who came to ask for her hand in marriage. When Joseph was passing through the area where she lived collecting excess grain, he stayed at her father’s house because he was a prominent person in the local community. And her father had plans for her to marry Joseph because of his position as the Pharaoh’s right hand but she spurned her father and told him he would not marry Joseph because of his ancestry. However when Joseph arrived later that day Aseneth fell head over heels for Joseph as soon as she saw him but due to Joseph’s previous encounters with Egyptian women he rebuffed her advances. Aseneth was distraught over his rejection and she mourned for what had happened. That night an angel visited her and told her what she needed to do to be accepted by Joseph. So she followed the angel’s direction and ended up converting and throwing away all her idols that she had worshipped previously. She was transformed into a different person and when Joseph saw her the next day he did not recognize her. When Joseph did see her he was amazed with her beauty and fell in love with her that instant. They then married and lived happily ever after the end.

This story is a classic example of a love story but it is not a perfect one. Boy and girl do end up living happily ever after but girl has to change herself for the boy to like her. I find this very interesting in the world we live in today which is telling people that you have to look a certain way or act to certain way to be noticed by the opposite sex. I mean yes the change was a religious one and in the context of the story this works because it does have Biblical characters in it and Aseneth does now believe in God. But out of context it seems to send the message that you have to change who you are to be worthy of the person you like if you aren’t that way already. I would like to say that this is something I don’t do but let’s be honest it’s something we all do. I have to act the right way or say the right thing or make that funny joke to get her to notice me. And then when you do end up together your real self comes out and sometimes that does not go over too well with the other person which then turns into a bad romance.

However the flip side is that the other person could be completely cool with the real you in which case you have a good romance. This is what you want.