Thesis Statement.1

Jewish Women and Identity in 19th C. French Orientalist Paintings: The Moroccan Bride, Haram Odalisque and the Femme Fatal.

Jewish women’s identity in 19^th C. French Orientalist paintings contributed to shaping how Jewish female identity has changed from the period of the Post-Enlightenment to Modernist times. An examination of the evolution of how the painter’s model was portrayed archetypically in North Africa, from sacred Moroccan bride to Harem odalisque and finally to the Femme Fatal figure reveals symptoms of this transformation. By surveying the art of French Orientalists and the texts of 19^th and 20^th-century scholars, historians, literature and artist writers, we may better understand how Jewish women’s identity has been influenced by such things as; Anti-Semitism, Post-Colonial theories exploring the “Other,” such as Said’s Orientalism, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi relations and Jewish/Arab feminist dynamics. This research is important because it may lead to a broader comprehension of contemporary Jewish identity for women. Hopefully this understanding may ultimately help to confront and diminish stereo-types, Anti-Semitism, social and political injustices as well as personal identity issues that Jewish women have commonly faced.