Esther and Hadassah: A Comparative Study of Female Agency

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avondale-bepress-to-dspace.facultyArts, Nursing & Theology
avondale-bepress.abstract<p>The intention of this study is to compare two texts separated by thousands of years, in the context of female agency. The modern male-authored text Hadassah: One Night with the King will be compared in the light of 3 models of feminist critique of the biblical Esther regarding female empowerment. This study aims to determine if the discourses within the modern text, Hadassah: One Night with the King positions its protagonists as conforming to one or more of three models established by this study’s reading of the biblical Esther. The three models are Model 1) Esther as a ‘Traditional Female Stereotype’, Model 2) Esther as Subversives, or Model 3) Esther as a ‘Type for the Jewish people’. It also seeks to establish when the representation of Hadassah/Kesselman and/or Vashti in Hadassah: One Night with the King falls outside the three models</p> <p>This study follows a qualitative methodology and literary analysis that identifies and analyses the literary constructs, imagery, structure, settings and relationships in its exploration of female agency through the frame of limitations and enablers, and three analytical models of the Book of Esther. The analysis and conclusions form part of this study. The analysis finds that female agency in Hadassah: One Night with the King is complex, complicated, and, because of its contextual nature, not easily or strictly aligned within a particular model. The analysis indicates that although the primary protagonist does exercise agency in parts of the Scroll narrative of Hadassah One Night with the King, she appears, by the close of the text, to surrender to the stereotype of femininity depicted in representations of the biblical Esther as set out in Model 1 of this thesis. This finding indicates that the stereotypical representations of Esther’s agency have not come very far since biblical times.</p>
avondale-bepress.articleid1020
avondale-bepress.authorsGrace Thevamalar Paulson
avondale-bepress.context-key13451757
avondale-bepress.coverpage-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/theses_masters_research/19
avondale-bepress.document-typethesis
avondale-bepress.field.advisor1Professor Jane Fernandez
avondale-bepress.field.advisor2Dr Lindsay Morton
avondale-bepress.field.comments<p>Used by permission: the author.</p> <p>A print copy of this thesis is held in the Avondale College Library (SC Theses 222.906 P28).</p>
avondale-bepress.field.custom_citation<p>Paulson, G. (2018). <em>Esther and Hadassah: A comparative study of female agency</em> (Master's thesis, Avondale College of Higher Education, Cooranbong, Australia). Retrieved from https://research.avondale.edu.au/theses_masters_research/19/</p>
avondale-bepress.field.degree_nameMaster of Philosophy MPhil
avondale-bepress.field.departmentArts, Nursing & Theology
avondale-bepress.field.embargo_date2018-12-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.field_of_education09 Society and Culture
avondale-bepress.field.for_codes169901 Gender Specific Studies
avondale-bepress.field.publication_date2018-12-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.field.schoolsTheology
avondale-bepress.fulltext-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1020&amp;context=theses_masters_research&amp;unstamped=1
avondale-bepress.keywordspower
avondale-bepress.keywordspatriarchy
avondale-bepress.keywordswomen
avondale-bepress.keywordsfeminism
avondale-bepress.label19
avondale-bepress.native-urlhttps://research.avondale.edu.au/context/theses_masters_research/article/1020/type/native/viewcontent
avondale-bepress.publication-date2018-12-01T00:00:00Z
avondale-bepress.publication-titleTheses Masters Research
avondale-bepress.statepublished
avondale-bepress.submission-date2018-12-09T21:07:53Z
avondale-bepress.submission-paththeses_masters_research/19
avondale-bepress.titleEsther and Hadassah: A Comparative Study of Female Agency
avondale-bepress.typearticle
dc.contributor.authorPaulson, Grace Thevamalar
dc.date.accessioned2023-11-01T00:27:56Z
dc.date.available2023-11-01T00:27:56Z
dc.date.issued2018-12-01
dc.date.submitted2018-12-09T21:07:53Z
dc.description.abstract<p>The intention of this study is to compare two texts separated by thousands of years, in the context of female agency. The modern male-authored text Hadassah: One Night with the King will be compared in the light of 3 models of feminist critique of the biblical Esther regarding female empowerment. This study aims to determine if the discourses within the modern text, Hadassah: One Night with the King positions its protagonists as conforming to one or more of three models established by this study’s reading of the biblical Esther. The three models are Model 1) Esther as a ‘Traditional Female Stereotype’, Model 2) Esther as Subversives, or Model 3) Esther as a ‘Type for the Jewish people’. It also seeks to establish when the representation of Hadassah/Kesselman and/or Vashti in Hadassah: One Night with the King falls outside the three models</p> <p>This study follows a qualitative methodology and literary analysis that identifies and analyses the literary constructs, imagery, structure, settings and relationships in its exploration of female agency through the frame of limitations and enablers, and three analytical models of the Book of Esther. The analysis and conclusions form part of this study. The analysis finds that female agency in Hadassah: One Night with the King is complex, complicated, and, because of its contextual nature, not easily or strictly aligned within a particular model. The analysis indicates that although the primary protagonist does exercise agency in parts of the Scroll narrative of Hadassah One Night with the King, she appears, by the close of the text, to surrender to the stereotype of femininity depicted in representations of the biblical Esther as set out in Model 1 of this thesis. This finding indicates that the stereotypical representations of Esther’s agency have not come very far since biblical times.</p>
dc.identifier.citation<p>Paulson, G. (2018). <em>Esther and Hadassah: A comparative study of female agency</em> (Master's thesis, Avondale College of Higher Education, Cooranbong, Australia). Retrieved from https://research.avondale.edu.au/theses_masters_research/19/</p>
dc.identifier.urihttps://research.avondale.edu.au/handle/123456789/13451757
dc.language.isoen_us
dc.rights<p>Used by permission: the author.</p> <p>A print copy of this thesis is held in the Avondale College Library (SC Theses 222.906 P28).</p>
dc.subjectpower
dc.subjectpatriarchy
dc.subjectwomen
dc.subjectfeminism
dc.titleEsther and Hadassah: A Comparative Study of Female Agency
dc.typeThesis
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