Women in the Bible biblical women had what anthropology terms "informal power." Ruth is the title character of the Book of Ruth. In the narrative, she is not an Israelite but rather is from Moab; she marries an Israelite. Both her husband and her father-in-law die, and she helps her mother-in-law, Naomi, find protection. The two of them travel to Bethlehem together, where Ruth wins the love of Boaz through her kindness. She is one of five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew, alongside Tamar, Rahab, the "wife of Uriah" (Bathsheba), and Mary. Esther is described in
The Frogs Who Desired a King of a new reign", a study of Russia written in 1895 by the political assassin Sergey Stepnyak-Kravchinsky, using the pen-name S. Stepniak. The book contrasts the policy of the reactionary Tsar Alexander III with the likely policy under Nicholas II, who had only just succeeded to the throne. There is a passing reference to the fable in the title of Alyse Gregory's feminist novel "King Log and Lady Lea" (1929), whereas one of Margaret Atwood's four short fictions in a 2005 issue of the magazine "Daedalus" engages with it directly. Entitled "King Log in Exile", it features the deposed king