Esther the Virtuous Beauty Queen

I have never had a compelling interest in makeup until now, because  my beautiful husband has opened my eyes to my innate beauty, and encouraged me to find every means of understanding and cultivating it. So I decided to study makeup, and found I enjoy the artistry of applying it. I became an advocate for the pleasures, and virtues, of lipstick and eyeshadow. In defense of my new found love of feminine arts, I examined the biblical figure Judith last week, finding in her an example of true beauty. This week, I examined another biblical figure, Esther, whose story I found to have a deep message about the gift of beauty. 

Esther's book begins oddly; with her cousin Mordecai and his mysterious dream involving a collection of natural disasters which serve as a backdrop for two dragons. The dragons’ roar rouses every nation to war against the nation of the just. However, through their reliance on God, the just cause a spring to well up and grow into a powerful river. This reverses the evil tide against them, and the dream concludes.

The story continues with Mordecai, who serves in the court of the Persian King Ahasuerus. The king's wife, Queen Vashti, is portrayed as being lovely, but haughty: she refused the king's order to come into his presence. As a result, King Ahasuerus removes Vashti from power, and searches for a new queen. All the beautiful young women of the kingdom were gathered so that the king could choose from among them. Here the story introduces Mordecai's orphaned cousin, Esther. She “...was beautifully formed and lovely to behold,” (2:7). As such, she was among those taken to the royal palace.

From there, the beautiful character of Esther shines. She becomes beloved to the court guardian of the women, “The young woman pleased him and won his favor. So he promptly furnished her with cosmetics and provisions. Then choosing seven maids for her from the royal palace, he transferred both her and her maids to the best place in the harem,” (2:9). So like a fairytale, Esther's story begins.

Esther proceeds to go through a twelve month long beauty regimen, “During this period of beautifying treatment, six months were spent with oil of myrrh, and the other six months with perfumes and cosmetics,” (2:12). One by one, each young woman in the contest appeared before the king to be judged. It had been four years since he first dismissed Queen Vashti, in all that time he had not chosen a queen. 

When Esther's turn came to appear before King Ahasueraus, she immediately won the kingdomwide beauty contest, “The king loved Esther more than all other women, and of all the virgins she won his favor and good will. So he placed the royal crown on her head and made her queen in place of Vashti,” (2:17). With this climax, Esther's story feels complete, but her faith is about to be tested.

Her cousin Mordecai provokes the wrath of the king's highest official Haman by refusing to kneel and bow to him. Once Haman becomes aware that Mordecai is a Jew, and thus only kneels and bows before God, he convinces the king to make this declaration: for one day the Persians and the enemies of the Jews may openly attack them, with the goal of slaying them all. 

Mordecai sends a message to Esther, urging her to go to the king and advocate on behalf of the Jews. At first, Esther excuses herself from the task, claiming to be helpless by pointing out that going into the king's presence without being summoned is an offense punishable by death. Mordecai promptly challenges her faith by saying either she will help the Israelites or God will pick another person to do so. He finishes his message with words of encouragement, “Who knows—perhaps it was for a time like this that you became queen?” (4:14). In reply, Esther commands Mordecai to gather the Jews in the royal city and declare a fast of three days in solidarity with her. Moved by the burden of her position, Esther then turns to God.

First, she humbles herself, “Taking off her splendid garments, she put on garments of distress and mourning. In place of her precious ointments she covered her head with dung and ashes. She afflicted her body severely and in place of her festive adornments, her tangled hair covered her,” (4C:13). She further displays her humility in her prayer, “My Lord, you alone are our King. Help me, who am alone and have no help but you…” (4C: 14). After three days, she finishes her praying and fasting.

Now Esther puts her beauty on full display, “...she took off her prayer garments and arrayed herself in her splendid attire…She glowed with perfect beauty and her face was as joyous as it was lovely, though her heart was pounding with fear,” (4D: 1, 5). At first her fear is justified: the king is livid that she has come into his presence uninvited. However, Esther's prayers are answered: the king is moved to compassion by her distress and he promises her anything her heart desires. She invites him and Haman (the court official who incited the king to make the decree against the Jews) to a banquet. At the banquet, King Asahueraus again promises Esther anything her heart desires. She replies by inviting him and Haman to another banquet the following day.

At the second banquet, when King Ahasueraus promises her anything she wishes, Esther requests that the Jews be spared. The king grants this, and another more specific request from Esther, such that the enemies of the Jews no longer had the king's support, rather the Jews were given full freedom to muster and defend themselves on the day previously appointed for their destruction. Thus, Esther uses her influence to thwart the enemies of the Jews and save her people from death. Finally, Mordecai understands his dream: he and Haman were the dragons, Esther was the small spring who grew into a mighty river; she was an answer to a nation's prayer.

I find the story of Esther compelling for a couple of reasons. One is the way Mordecai cares for Esther, encourages her to use her talents and be faithful, because it reminds me of the men in my life who have encouraged me to seek true beauty: my father, stopping in my bedroom doorway on a Sunday morning to say I was beautiful; my uncle, shopping for a Confirmation dress with me; my husband, continually drawing my attention to how singularly pleasing I am to his eyes. The other reason is the gift of Esther’s beauty, because it is the initial source of her influence. Without it she would never have gained access to the palace, nor become queen. Her physical beauty reflected her humility, piety, and courage. She powerfully wielded her loveliness to do God's will. 

The intricacies of being a woman and applying virtue to all that I do fascinates me. The fact that Esther could be a lovely, faithful, courageous woman, and use cosmetics, gives me precedent for my own use of makeup. Next week, I am very excited to present an authoritative Catholic perspective on the use of makeup, by reporting on what St. Thomas Aquinas said on the matter.

All quotes are taken from the New American Bible Revised Edition, available to read at https://bible.usccb.org/bible/esther/0.