ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the play Godly Queene Hester, supplemented by a discussion of the contemporaneous Comedy of Queen Esther and Haughty Haman, within a textual system encompassing the Bible, as well as exegetical and historical texts. Hester's warnings to the King distinctly echo this language, demonstrating as well a manipulation of language that is based on a striking use of heteroglossic discourse. In the biblical Book of Esther, Queen Esther's voice resounds during two intense moments of narrative tension. The emotional resonance of Mordecai's speech is developed through the deft use of several syntactic and rhetorical structures, which ultimately validate both this character's authority and the threat to Esther's life. Comedy of Queen Esther is a play for the public, professional theater, in which there is a distinct visual and active performance of Jewish prayer. The Jews in Godly Queene Hester are thus very understandably true Christians, and their prayers echo both Christian ritual and Renaissance erudition.
