Vashti’s refusal to be shown off like a common concubine before the tipsy hoi polloi of the citadel of Susa reveals a sense of decorum and self-respect that places her outside of the mocking characterisation that the narrator has given the rest of the royal court.3 Vashti’s refusal to obey the king is a comment on Xerxes rather than on the patriarchy of the society he represents. As such, it weakens Xerxes’ honour and power, which the story in turn capitalizes on through Esther’s own role. So like