Introduction: the multifaceted charm of the book of Esther Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The book of Esther is one of the greatest pieces of literature in the Hebrew Bible. His storytelling is intricate, creative and colorful with complex characters. It is the basis for the celebration of Purim and is very popular, much loved by devotees, scholars and literati. But Esther is also one of the most contested books of the Hebrew Bible due to the two norms from which it deviates: the absence of God as a defined and active presence and the representation of an intelligent and industrious woman as the savior of the Jewish people. . The additions in the Septuagint, which nullify or reduce aspects of these deviations, reveal interesting aspects of the anxiety that the Jewish Esther aroused among some Jewish (and, later, some Christian) readers. Here, in this beautiful and unique book, we see the clearest depiction of God as a true unconscious presence, never mentioned, but always there, guiding the actions of individuals and the Jewish people as a whole. We are given a female heroine, one who is an archetype of her own as she bends and challenges the female characters who came before her. But even deeper than the book itself, perhaps, is the anxiety it provokes. In the Greek book of Esther, God is added at every turn and Mordecai's role is confused, revealing some discomfort on the part of reviewers with the indistinct presence of God and a strong female heroine. However, these qualities make Esther one of the most intriguing texts for a psychoanalytic study of Jewish mythology.I. The hidden God of EstherFrom a strictly narrative point of view, one of the drivers of the Jewish Esther's action is chance, or coincidence. If you read Esther from a religious perspective, however, you assume that all these coincidences are the work of divine providence and are part of God's ultimate plan, even if he is never mentioned in the Hebrew. At the crucial turning point of the story, Mordecai suggests to Esther: "Perhaps you have achieved royal dignity for such a time as this" (Esth 4:14). Later, his life is spared when the king's insomnia leads him to come across, by chance, the mention of Mordecai having saved his life that he had forgotten (also by chance). Furthermore, it is implied that, even under the threat of the king's decree, the Jewish people will be liberated: Haman's wife warns him that his fall is connected to the reward of Mordecai "the Jew" (Esth 6.13), and to The lots that Haman casts give him the month of Adar, the month in which Moses died. Haman takes this as a sign of favor on his part, despite not realizing that it is also the month in which Moses was born. Finally, the conflict between Haman and Mordecai, although it begins as a clash of wills, can be traced back to Mordecai's ancestor Kish and Haman's ancestor Agag, symbolizing the statement that "the Lord will make war on the Amalekites of generation throughout the generations" (Exodus 17:16). In fact, there are very few examples of deliberate actions in the first half of the story. Everything is assumed, implicitly, to be guided by the hand of God. The presentation of these events without any mention of God himself, however, is what made Esther so disturbing to Jewish, and later Christian, readers: the Greek Esther who appears in the Septuagint, which will be discussed in depth in the third section, attempts to modify the apparent absence of God. However, reading Esther through the lens of psychoanalysis, it becomes the main book of the Hebrew Bible in which the nature of God as the unconscious is more explicit. Mordecai cryptically refers to an "other neighborhood", interpreted by readers as God, but with verydetail that suggests a power waiting to be discovered and connected (Est 4.14). If we accept the idea that all random events and ironic rewards or punishments are the work of a divine plan, then, assuming that the divine is a metaphor for the unconscious, the book of Esther shows how the characters in it are guided, redeemed and destroyed by what Freud would consider their unconscious drives. Haman overestimates his own value and importance to the king and, because of this, meets a bitter end of his own design. The king is almost comically forgetful, oblivious, and fickle, and allows himself to be manipulated by both Haman and Esther. And Esther, who in the legend is considered a symbol of "hester panim" (the concealment of the face of the divine), can be seen both as the ego of the narrative, but also as the person of God/unconscious mind. By taking Esther as the ego of the book, one might begin to attempt to construct an idea of ​​her subconscious. Her self-image is that of a modest but beautiful young woman who begins the story as a mostly obedient and pious Jew (despite her neglect of Jewish law, which is never addressed). His Jewish identity would appear to be primarily secular or ethnic, except that one might assume that the religiosity of his "Jewishness" is the presence of God as his unconscious mind. In her subconscious one could also find the king (her husband) and Haman, an adversary (and therefore, perhaps, a complex). There's also the shadow figure of Vashti, the openly rebellious queen Esther replaced, and, of course, her uncle Mordecai. Esther and Mordecai can also be seen as anima and animus for each other. This is most evident in the reversal of gender roles that occurs in the fourth chapter. Up until this point, Esther had been subservient to her guardian and relied on him for help and assistance, but when it becomes obvious that Esther is the only person who can influence the king's mind, it is Mordecai who must depend on her and follow her . his orders. Esther's transformation in this event is just one of the intriguing gender shifts distinct in the book of Esther.II. Esther and the Feminine Archetype Esther is in a peculiar position in the biblical canon. Neither a clear example of the "temptress" archetype of Eve, Delilah, and Jezebel, nor the "good wife" of Sarah, Rebecca, and Ruth, she is a unique figure. Only the characterization of Judith - another extraordinarily beautiful and pious woman who liberates her people with her cunning intellect - owes much to Esther, and it is not surprising that both books have been contested (even the book of Judith is considered apocryphal to outside the books of Catholic traditions). Technically, Esther is primarily a symbol - an iconic heroine for the Jewish people - and her status as a person is secondary to this, but her character is nevertheless rich and well-rounded, incorporating many different aspects of the women who came before her . . Although Esther is the heroine of the story, the influence of the Eve archetype is still evident. Like Judith, Esther's power lies in her beauty and her ability to manipulate the king through, it is implied, sexual tension. With her extraordinary beauty (not helped by cosmetic treatments, which highlight her exceptional potential as a temptress, but also her pious modesty), she wins the position of wife, and then an important interview with him, and instigates the defeat of Haman arousing the suspicions of the king. and jealousy. It is also important to note the relationship between Esther and the exiled queen Vashti. Vashti is also assumed to be beautiful and dignified. However, it is her modesty (if one interprets Esth 1.11 only as the "royal crown"), or her pride, that causes her to lose the king's favor. While Esther's manipulation is, like God's work, subtle and cunning, the open rebellion of.