The Disidentification of Mordecai: A Drag Interpretation of Esther 8:15

Abstract

There is a particularly visually striking image that appears in Esth 8:15: Mordecai, the persistent critic of Persian imperialism, parades through the city enrobed in the regalia of the royal court. This odd image has long been seen as a moment of disquiet in Mordecai's arc. By treating this behavior as an act of drag, we will show that Mordecai's actions are not only entirely in keeping with his rejection of the Persian hegemony but are also strikingly revealed anew. José Esteban Muñoz's concept of disidentification provides a lens through which to view the interplay between politics and drag, such as in Mordecai's story. Together with Jack Halberstam's reflections on the art of the drag king, Mordecai's entire story is recontextualized. The themes of unstable, contested masculinity, rejection of Persian power, status as an ethnic other, and Mordecai's political scheming are woven together in his disidentificatory drag. He adorns himself as if the Shushan fortress and willingly appears before the whole city. This action recalls not only his forced appearance at the hands of the villainous Haman (Esth 6:10–11) but also directly harks back to the introductory images of the fortress itself. By undertaking a comparative analysis of the terms used in each description (Esth 1:6; cf. 8:15) the drag theme emerges more strongly. In so doing, Mordecai reveals the fallibility of the very thing he performs, denaturalizes its assumed power, and brings into focus the possibility of alternative presents and futures