As It Is Written . . .
Abishag Unscripted
by Patrick Henry Reardon
Early in the first autobiographical account in Bleak House, Esther Sommerson speaks of Mrs. Rachael, a domestic servant of Miss Barbary, who is Esther’s aunt and guardian. Mrs. Rachael, a fairly non-descript person in the early part of the novel, disappears after the death of Miss Barbary, nor is there any reason to suppose, at that point, that we should ever hear about her again.
Later in the book, nonetheless, Dickens brings the same lady back, now the wife of a pompous preacher named Chadband. At a crucial point in the narrative, it is this Mrs. Chadband who recognizes Esther’s name in a context that throws light on her parentage. Thus, Dickens uses an otherwise minor character, who appears in only two settings in the novel, to resolve one of the structural tensions basic to the whole story. Mrs. Rachael/Mrs. Chadband is a thin but essential thread in the weave of the narrative. Insignificant in her own person, she serves an important role in the coherence of Dickens’s long book.
We encounter a similar phenomenon at the beginning of the First Book of Kings, which introduces an apparently minor character, Abishag, the young woman chosen to care for the aging King David.
As for David, he had earlier sworn not to sleep until the Temple was constructed. The Psalmist quotes him as saying, “I will not go into the chamber of my house, / Nor seek the comfort of my bed; / Nor sleep will I give my eyes / Nor let my eyelids close in slumber, / Until I find a place for the Lord, / A dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Ps. 132 [131]:3–5).
Did David intend his oath to be understood literally? If so, he evidently thought better of it, especially after the Lord, through the prophet Nathan, told him that his son would build the Temple.
In any case, the opening scene in Kings informs us that blankets and night-clothes provided inadequate warmth to the aging king as he sought the comfort of his bed and let his eyelids close in slumber. The ministers at court suggested a solution: “Let a young woman, a virgin, be sought for our lord the king, and let her stand before the king, and let her care for him; and let her lie in your bosom, that our lord the king may be warm.”
Abishag’s appearance at the beginning of the succession narrative serves a double purpose: First, it illustrates David’s extreme debility, the condition that explains the resolve of Adonijah, his son, to usurp the throne. Second, it prepares the reader for Solomon’s later decision to kill Adonijah, when the latter requests permission to marry Abishag; she had been, strictly speaking, the consort of their father.
Thus, although Abishag’s role in the account of the royal succession is relatively minor, it seals the coherence of the story. Her sudden presence at court attracts the eye of Adonijah, and that attraction leads, in due course, to his demise.
Of the lady herself, we are told almost nothing, aside from the fact that she was selected on the basis of a beauty competition conducted “throughout all the territory of Israel.” It is significant that Abishag has no speaking role. Her simple presence at court becomes the active ingredient that moves the story forward.
The Burden of a Mystery
Patrick Henry Reardon is pastor emeritus of All Saints Antiochian Orthodox Church in Chicago, Illinois, and the author of numerous books, including, most recently, Out of Step with God: Orthodox Christian Reflections on the Book of Numbers (Ancient Faith Publishing, 2019).
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