There were so many archetypal categories of women; as good or bad, as pretty or plain, as virtuous or villainous, as lovely or arrogant and as submissive or aggressive. Being a woman I have seen only one category of women, woman, who wants what she wants. The Book of Esther is a good example of this.
Here Vashti and Esther stands against the king Ahasuerus with his bad company. The story begins with Vashti refusing to summon before the men and display her beauty. She considers it as too low for her to accept the order made “when the heart of the king was merry with wine”(The Book of Esther, 1:10). He saw her as object of beauty and wanted to have pride as he has had the best of all women. For Vashti she is not the show but a woman with self-respect.
Vashti had immense courage to stand against him and risk her life. She gives up her power and position as queen to retain her self-respect.
Here comes Esther with the same courage Vashti had but with a different need. She has a mission to get a safe place for the kids to grow, a hopeful life for the young men and women holding hands in trust and a peaceful death for the people grown old. For this she gets into the contest, which could either make her a powerless queen or doom her life into the lower house. For it says,
In the evening she went, and on the morrow she returned into the second house of the women, to the custody of Shaashgaz, the king’s chamberlain, which kept the concubines….
– The Book of Esther, 2:14
This contest shows the wickedness of the king and his men. Esther was not the first woman to go to the palace. She has seen so many of these women getting through this, but still wanted this for her people. Winning the contest does not make her in anyway better but only in a powerless state. After 5 years of marriage, she will not even be able to meet her husband in need, without put her life into risk again.
Now Esther stands before the egoistic Ahasuerus to save his people. When Vashti gave a blunt blow at his ego to defend her self-respect, Esther pampers it to get on to his head and get what she wants.
She also deceives Haman by inviting him to the banquet. So the king will not be poisoned against her as it was done against Vashti. When she completely took the power over Ahasuerus, she disclosed her need to save her people and puts an end to the enemy Haman.
The Book of Esther was what God destined to show the power of women. With Moses, He brought in His miracles power to save the people, where as with Esther, He chooses to use the will and courage of women.
This is the same with Vashti. She was never referred as bad. It clearly states that the king made his order when he is obsessed by wine. He feels bad for what happened. Vashti has been a threat to the king’s men with her intelligent. They took this as an opportunity to doom her. The story of Vashti did not end there. The voice of this first feminist is been carried on to all the women who came after her. And has taken us till here and even further.
Happy Women’s Day
Nappinai 