Sherry Ashworth argues that the reading of biblical texts is essentially a creative act, and that the use of intertexts to read the Book of Esther is both creative and productive. She demonstrates that reading the biblical text together with nineteenth-century literature enables particular attention to be paid to female characters, as the genre of the Victorian novel - including Elizabeth Gaskell's Mary Barton, Charles Dickens' Bleak House and George Eliot's Felix Holt, the Radical - foregrounds women's experiences and makes an ideal partner for understanding the Book of Esther.
Beginning with a review of the biblical text, the problems of interpretation and the reception history surrounding this book, Ashworth suggests that Esther's story becomes a type of bildungsroman in which her early experiences shape her response to the situations she meets. She is raised by Mordecai, an entitled self-absorbed male guardian, and learning to please him helps her to continue doing so in the harem, thus winning Hegai's favour and learning in turn what pleases Ahasuerus - a king who is far less powerful that he might seem. Ashworth demonstrates that once chosen as queen Esther steps into her power, freeing herself from Mordecai's control and dealing with the crisis affecting the Jews in her own way and with great success, although at some cost. Ashworth's creative re-reading of Esther tells a story of female success and offers a new, relevant way to read and appreciate this timeless story.
