The Bible women stories are often controlled by men. I noticed this when reading the story of Bathsheba. David saw Bathsheba and decided that he would be with her. The man usually does whatever he needs to do to get obstacles out of the way. In this case he had Uriah killed. While I'm not completely sure what happened with Bathsheba and David after this, it is significant to note that certain Bible men play a huge part in controlling a Bible woman's life.
The story of Esther reminds me a lot of a reality show, with the king having women to choose from and going home with whomever he feels most attracted to. While I'm not sure I will make use of this element, it is interesting to think about how much of a reality show is reflected in the writing.
"And the king loved Esther above all the women, and she obtained grace and favour in his sight more than all the virgins; so that he set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen instead of Vashti."This quote really sums up how beautiful Esther was and how she stood out from the rest. I feel like the storytelling here foreshadows how different of a queen she will be compared with the other choices of women--that she is going to change the kingdom for the better.
Some notes for my reference about the storyline of Esther:
- Esther is Jewish, but her nationality could endanger her so she does not tell anyone.
- Esther goes with other women to potentially be chosen as the king's new queen.
- Esther's beauty helps her to "win."
- Esther's cousin, Mordecai, overhears two guards say they are going to assassinate the king. Esther tells the king and gives credit to Mordecai for this.
- Haman, a high noble, expects Mordecai to bow down to him but he does not. Haman wants to kill all of the Jews, including Mordecai, and convinces the king to do so.
- Esther fasts, then invites the king and Haman to a banquet the next day. Haman plans to fast-track killing Mordecai.
- The king wants to reward Mordecai for saving his life and asks Haman what he should do to reward the man who helped him. Haman thinks he is talking about rewarding him so he says the person should get gifts and extravagance. Then Haman finds out he was talking about Mordecai and is angry.
- At the banquet, Esther tells the king about Haman's plan to kill the Jews. The king is enraged and ends up hanging Haman.
Esther's kindness and brave heart has always been very inspiring to me. I think re-writing the story somehow would be really fun, even if I focused on Mordecai's or Haman's perspective.
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Image information: Esther's Feast, by Lievens.
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