Abstract
The biblical Book of Esther tells a story about Jewish survival in the land of Persia. Esther, a Jewess, sentenced to die by Persian law, nonetheless shapes conceptions of what it is to be Persian. She not only brings salvation to a people destined for annihilation, but also questions the rigid alignments of Persian identity with male power. Powerful individuals (Persian and male) prescribe cultural behaviors, including feasting and immersion in oils and spices, in order to regulate populations and keep individuals in a hierarchical order. Through the modes of corporeal prescription, bodies are made amenable to the prevailing exigencies of power. Those not included in the dominant discourse are placed in the roles of other (Jewish and female), to maintain the existing political power. Esther, the narrative's heroine, is a skilled other who effects a radical political subversion in which the oppressed essentially rewrite the laws of their oppressors.
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