Between Subversion and Tradition: Recasting Biblical Characters in Zelda's Poetry

This article asserts that the late Israeli poet Zelda recasts biblical figures in order to express aspects of her own religious faith. Reading Zelda's poems that focus on biblical characters reveals her tendency to provide a modern, subjective interpretation of the Bible, free from the restraints of traditional exegesis. The three poems on which the article focuses reflect the daring, occasionally subversive dialogue that Zelda conducts with the Jewish sources. These poems redeem biblical characters from their marginality and their stereotypical interpretation. By using various literary techniques (e.g. giving a voice to Hagar), these biblical characters act in Zelda's poems as masks behind which she hides, and unflinchingly reveals her struggles with her specific religious belief.