Chapter 6: I Refuse the Betrothal
Ana returns home from the market injured and distraught, only to be met with the news of her betrothal to an older widower, Nathaniel ben Hananiah. Her parents, Matthias and Hadar, present the news as joyous, but Ana is horrified and immediately declares, “I refuse the betrothal,” shocking her family.
Yaltha supports Ana, reminding Matthias that a daughter’s consent is legally required. Matthias dismisses this, stating he can easily find a rabbi to override her refusal and cruelly tells Ana her consent is irrelevant, blaming his wife for her lack of compliance. Enraged by Ana’s public defiance, Hadar and the servant Shipra drag Ana to her room, where Hadar locks her in, declaring she will remain confined until she consents. In desperation, Ana confronts her mother with the secret of her using herbs to prevent pregnancy, but Hadar coldly replies that Matthias already suspects and doesn't care. Consumed by rage and grief, Ana kicks her incantation bowl and curses her fate. As her anger subsides, she clutches the red thread she picked up from the market floor where Jesus had fallen, feeling that he is "as vast as words" and could somehow set her free.
Chapter 7: Ana Who Shines
Confined to her room, Ana has a vivid dream that is actually a memory from two years prior. In it, her tutor Titus has her translate the story of Aseneth, an Egyptian girl who resists an arranged marriage. Ana recalls tasting the golden ink on the manuscript and having a powerful vision of her own face inside a red disk of light, a moment that gave her a "blinding sense of my own existence: Ana who shines."
Awakening with a renewed sense of purpose, she interprets the vision as a divine promise that her inner light will not be extinguished by her betrothal. This moment solidifies The Search for Self and Personal Longing as her driving motivation. Later that night, Yaltha sneaks into Ana's room after drugging Shipra. Yaltha shares her past, revealing she was married to an abusive man in Alexandria and used her incantation bowl to pray for his death. Accused of poisoning him, she was sent to live with the Therapeutae, a community of Jewish philosophers where women and men studied and wrote as equals, revering God's female spirit, Sophia. This story opens Ana's mind to the existence of female scholars and an alternative way of life, reinforcing the theme of Feminism and Women's Voices. Yaltha warns Ana that her parents plan to burn her writings the next morning, and together, they quickly hide Ana's most precious scrolls in goatskin pouches.
Chapter 8: A Compliant and Docile Daughter
The next morning, Matthias and Hadar enter Ana’s room with the official betrothal contract. Following Yaltha’s advice, Ana puts on a performance of a repentant and compliant daughter, kissing her father’s hand, begging for forgiveness, and feigning remorse. Matthias reads the contract aloud, which states that Yaltha will be allowed to live with Ana and lists the numerous reasons Nathaniel can divorce her, including disobedience or "other repulsions." Ana gives her verbal consent, adding "with all my heart" in a desperate, last-ditch effort to save her writings.
Hadar notes with suspicion that there seem to be fewer scrolls in Ana's writing chest than she expected, but she doesn't investigate further. A soldier is ordered to take the chest to the courtyard to be burned. As the smell of smoke fills the air, genuine tears finally come to Ana, and she uses this moment of authentic grief to further her act, telling her father that her greatest sorrow is disappointing him. She makes one request: to be allowed to walk in the hills with the servant Lavi to pray and find comfort. Moved by her performance, Matthias grants her wish, giving Ana a small, hard-won piece of freedom.
Chapter 9: Friend of Tabitha
Ana’s plan to use her morning walks to find a hiding place for her scrolls is immediately thwarted by her mother. Hadar, suspicious of Ana's motives, arranges for a childhood acquaintance, Tabitha, to visit. Ana is initially annoyed, remembering Tabitha as frivolous and uninteresting. The two sit in awkward silence until Tabitha bluntly says, "I think you don’t like me very much."
Ana apologizes for her rudeness, and Tabitha, in turn, shares her own insecurities about her "weak" tongue, forming a fragile connection between them. To make amends, Ana asks Tabitha to sing. As Tabitha sings a traditional wedding song, Ana has a revelation: she has judged Tabitha for being lighthearted, a quality she herself lacks. Realizing her own seriousness has become a burden, Ana joins Tabitha in song and dance. They collapse in laughter, and a genuine friendship begins to blossom, one that subverts Hadar's attempt to control Ana and instead provides her with unexpected joy and solidarity.
Chapter 10: Two Blind Girls
Tabitha becomes a frequent visitor, and her friendship with Ana and Yaltha deepens. Her songs and dances bring a much-needed levity to the household. One morning, Tabitha arrives with an idea for a new dance: they will be "two blind girls who pretend we can see in order to keep our betrotheds." Ana cleverly suggests they pretend to see "in order to keep our tutors," merging her own longing with Tabitha's playful scenario. They sneak into Hadar’s room and adorn themselves with her finest scarves, jewelry, and expensive spikenard perfume.
In a moment that feels both playful and sacred, they anoint each other's foreheads with the perfume, declaring themselves friends. "I anoint you Ana, friend of Tabitha," Tabitha says, and Ana reciprocates. They then perform their dance for Yaltha, their eyes closed, pretending to see. For Ana, the experience is profoundly liberating. In the darkness behind her eyes, she feels free from the constraints of her impending marriage. She thinks not of Nathaniel, but of Jesus and her precious scrolls, connecting her inner world of longing with the joy of female friendship.
Key Events
- Ana is betrothed against her will to Nathaniel ben Hananiah.
- Ana openly defies her father but is ultimately forced into submission and locked in her room.
- Yaltha reveals her past, including her time with the Therapeutae, a community of female and male scholars.
- Ana and Yaltha save her most important writings from being burned by her parents.
- Ana manipulates her father into allowing her to take morning walks in the hills.
- Ana forms a deep and joyful friendship with Tabitha, another betrothed young woman.
- Ana and Tabitha perform a symbolic dance as "blind girls," finding freedom in their shared creative expression.
Character Development
- Ana: She moves from open defiance to strategic submission, learning from Yaltha to be more cunning. She adopts a persona of compliance to survive and carve out small freedoms, like her walks in the hills. Her friendship with Tabitha softens her "seriousness," allowing her to experience joy and solidarity.
- Yaltha: She transforms from a quiet, supportive aunt into Ana's primary mentor and co-conspirator. By revealing her traumatic past and her time with the Therapeutae, she provides Ana with a model of female resilience and intellectual life, profoundly shaping Ana's worldview and giving her hope.
- Tabitha: Introduced as a seemingly shallow girl, Tabitha is quickly revealed to be direct, kind, and emotionally intelligent. She becomes a vital source of lightheartedness and joy for Ana, demonstrating that strength can also be found in playfulness and song, not just in serious study.
Themes & Symbols
Themes
Feminism and Women's Voices: This theme is central as Ana’s cry, "I refuse the betrothal," is a radical act of self-assertion. Yaltha’s story about the Therapeutae introduces the idea of a society where women are intellectual equals, and her knowledge of female writers like Enheduanna gives Ana historical precedent for her own ambitions. The friendship between Ana, Yaltha, and Tabitha creates a powerful female triumvirate that stands in opposition to the oppressive male authority.
The Search for Self and Personal Longing: Ana's "largeness" is nearly crushed by the betrothal, but her vision of "Ana who shines" reaffirms her sense of self and purpose. Her desperate actions are all driven by the need to protect this inner self. This section establishes that her primary journey will be an internal one: how to remain true to her soul's longing while trapped in a life she did not choose.
Symbols
The Incantation Bowl: The bowl represents the power of a woman's articulated desire. Yaltha used hers to pray for freedom, and Ana uses hers to pray for her "largeness" to find expression. When Ana kicks the bowl, it symbolizes her despair. When she saves it, she is saving the vessel of her deepest longings.
The Hills: The hills surrounding Sepphoris become a symbol of potential freedom and sanctuary. After being confined, Ana secures permission to walk there, representing a space outside the confines of her father's house and the patriarchal city, a place where she can be herself and find a safe haven for her writings.
The Dance of the Blind Girls: The dance Ana and Tabitha perform is a metaphor for their situation. By closing their eyes and pretending to see, they are symbolically acting out what is required of them as women. Yet, in the "blindness" of the dance, Ana finds true sight and freedom, transforming a game into a ritual of liberation and friendship.
Significance
These chapters are foundational, establishing the central conflict that will drive Ana's journey: the clash between her powerful inner longing and the limitations placed upon her. Her forced betrothal transforms her from a girl with dreams into a woman who must fight to keep those dreams alive.
This section also introduces the two most important female relationships in Ana's life. Yaltha becomes her mentor, providing her with a historical and spiritual framework, while Tabitha becomes her peer, offering the gifts of joy and solidarity. These relationships demonstrate that Ana's survival and growth will depend not just on her own resilience, but on the strength she draws from other women.
Analysis
"I refuse the betrothal."
Ana's initial defiance is a pivotal moment, showcasing her unwillingness to passively accept her fate. However, it also reveals the limitations of direct confrontation in a patriarchal society, setting the stage for her subsequent strategic maneuvering.
"Ana who shines."
The vision of "Ana who shines" serves as a divine calling, imbuing Ana's personal ambition with spiritual significance. It reinforces the idea that her inner light is real and worth preserving, providing her with the conviction needed to endure the trials to come.
Sue Monk Kidd uses these chapters to shift Ana's character arc from one of passive desire to active resistance. The narrative structure skillfully contrasts scenes of oppression with moments of liberation, emphasizing that Ana's freedom is not something she will find in her external circumstances, but something she must cultivate internally through knowledge, memory, and community.