Bathsheba Quotes

“Well, what I mean is that I shouldn’t mind being a bride at a wedding, if I could be one without having a husband. But since a woman can’t show off in that way by herself, I shan’t marry—at least not yet.”
― Thomas Hardy, Far From the Madding Crowd

“She had her head down, her back half turned to me. But even from that partial view, I could see that she was, as David had said, a striking woman: creamy skin, a glossy fall of obsidian hair, which she wore unbound and uncovered. Even in her loose robe it was possible to discern long, slender legs, a supple rounding of hips, and generous breasts, against which the baby lay, his thick shock of hair bearing fiery witness to his paternity. When David presented her she looked up, and I took a step backward. Her eyes were unexpected: a luminous blue. Also shocking: despite her tall, full figure, the face that gazed up at me was the face of a child. She was very young.”
― Geraldine Brooks

“I looked at Batsheva and suddenly felt as I had throughout that long night after I'd returned from Beit Lehem, when I sat up waiting for some stillborn vision. I knew now why I felt so ill that night. All through that vigil, he had been raping her. And I had let myself call it a seduction. As I looked at her now, I was shamed by my own thoughts. In a way, I, too, had violated her.”
― Geraldine Brooks, The Secret Chord

“Uriah is a good soldier—but a poor husband. He's not interested in spending time in bed with me. He'd rather be with his army friends. If my husband won't satisfy my needs, I have a right to have them satisfied by someone else.”
― Chester Brown, Mary Wept Over the Feet of Jesus: Prostitution and Religious Obedience in the Bible