Vashti and Esther: Women in Action

Vashti and Esther, the two queens mentioned in the megillah, represent different aspects of female leadership and activism. Vashti is presented in the megillah in a short but important episode, which sets into motion the plot of the megillah. King Ahashverosh, full of wine after a week of banquets, calls on Vashti to appear before the revelers and present her beauty. Vashti refuses and the megillah does not explain the reasons for her refusal. This appears to be a surprising act of rebellion for a woman in a patriarchal system. However, it appears that the status of women in ancient Persian culture was not as low as we might assume. Women held different positions of political power and the queen could make important decisions on different issues. According to the megillah, Vashti’s refusal raised concern that the women of the kingdom might see her as a role model and that this could lead additional women to rebel against their husbands. Following the advice of his advisors, King Ahashverosh decided that Vashti would be replaced: “and the king will give the crown to another woman who is better than her.”

At the beginning of the megillah, Esther seems to fit the role of the submissive woman who Ahashverosh was looking for. She is passive and all of her actions reflect the desires of the men around her. The megillah describes her as someone to whom things are done, almost like an object, who does not do anything on her own. For example, the following is said about Esther: “she was taken”; “what will be done to her” and “she did not ask for anything.” Her voice and desires are not heard in this part of the megillah, but in the course of her conversation with Mordechai about the future of the Jewish people, she changes her approach and takes an active position. Esther instructs Mordechai and the Jewish people how to behave and directs the course of events, in order to hold back the king and save her nation. In the midrash, the sages describe Esther as someone who repeatedly asks and even demands that they make Purim a permanent holiday and include Megillat Esther in the Ketuvim (Writings) section of the Tanach.

In the 19th century, the pioneers of the feminist movement began to view Vashti as a figure with whom they could identify and as a role model. Her story was rewritten from a feminist perspective and she was described as a heroine in the poetry of that era. In 1911, the American poet Ella Wheeler Wilcox wrote a poem about Vashti that encouraged women in the US and in England to demand the right to vote. In Wilcox’s poem, Vashti is first and foremost a woman who is forced to fight for her personal dignity against her drunken husband. Women who were being asked to obey their husbands were presented with the figure of Vashti, which reminded them that they were first of all queens or wives: “but a woman still — Ay, and a woman strong enough.” In the book The Woman’s Bible, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the leader of the suffragette movement, similarly praised Vashti as a figure worthy of admiration alongside other biblical figures, such as Deborah, Huldah and Esther.

Alongside the feminist praise of Vashti, there were those who criticized Esther for being passive and obedient. But, there were others who saw Esther as representing another aspect of female leadership. In a contemporary feminist midrash, Bea Wyler adds two new chapters to the ten chapters of Megillat Esther. In Chapter 11, Esther considers how she has been subjugated as a woman and decides to act on behalf of her “people” — all women. She invites the king and Mordechai to a banquet, presents the problem to them and obtains their agreement to change the situation. In Chapter 12, Esther sends a notice to all parts of the empire that calls on the women to unite and fight for their rights. Wyler concludes with Esther granting Vashti an official pardon, organizing a public banquet in her honor and granting Vashti a crown in recognition of her accomplishments as a spokesperson for human dignity. Esther even appoints Vashti as her personal advisor. This story provides a “correction” for the story in the megillah, which ends with no real improvement in the status of women.

Later on, she takes matters into her own hands and plays an active role: