Beauty that Never Fades. The Connection of Ideal Bodies and Relationship with God in Joseph and Aseneth

Abstract

In the Jewish novel Joseph and Aseneth, all characters are without exception extremely beautiful. This is especially true for the male characters Jacob and Joseph. Aseneth, the female protagonist, is also called extraordinarily beautiful (JosAs 1,5‒6), but her conversion to the God of Israel leads to a beauty that will never fade (JosAs 16,16). In this article, I analyze the depiction of the beauty of Jacob, Joseph, and Aseneth as well as the connection between ideal beauty and a relationship to the God of Israel using the narratological analysis of focalization. This shows that the characters with a special relationship to God in Aseneth are always viewed through the eyes of another character. Their fear of God manifests itself as physical beauty.