In reply to by Katrina

Interesting! I think there are both similarities and differences. If I remember 1001 Nights correctly, the king there had felt betrayed by his first wife (possible parallels to Vashti), which was why he began marrying and killing all these women. But while Ahasuerus does gather up potential brides, there's no sign of him marrying the others, and certainly no evidence of him killing them when he chooses Esther. I think the main similarity is probably Esther inviting him to successive dinner parties to get on his good side before asking to save the Jews. The main question is what significance do those elements have for you, in terms of what those stories mean to those cultures, or from a feminist critical angle, etc., and whether those parallels are strong enough to bear the weight of your argument. Curious to see where you take it!

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