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Story inspired by "the book of Esther"

I've got the idea for a story loosely by "the book of Esther" from the Hebrew bible; they share some similar story beats and parallels, but it's meant to be my own story.

The story takes place in 16-or 17th century Sweden and follows a huldra who has been captured and enslaved by a landed gentleman who dabbled in witchcraft to gain wealth and power. Using magic, he forces her to act as his perfect, obedient wife and views her as a status symbol. One day, he throws a banquet for the local nobility meant to show off his wealth and gaining prestige, and he demands that the huldra show up to show off his beautiful wife. She refuses, resulting in him punishing her which is the final straw. She escapes, fleeing into the forest which was her home. But despite her newfound freedom she still isn't satisfied; she wants revenge on the gentleman for his abuse of her.

After some time, the gentleman remarries; the bride is a girl from a noble family who have fallen on hard times and need the wealth. Learning this, the huldra sees an opportunity and seeks to befriend the girl as part of her revenge scheme. But they soon develop feelings for each other and the huldra wants to free her from an abusive marriage.

The story will deal with themes of abuse, misogyny, the madonna-whore complex, victim-blaming and sexual freedom.

"The book of Esther" has an important meaning for a lot of jewish people, so I want to know if my idea is disrespectful since it doesn't involve judaism or jewish people in any way. Part of my motivation for writing it comes from wanting a happy ending for Vashti from the book of Esther.

I've considered naming the huldra "Mashti" which is the name of an Elamite goddess and probably the inspiration for Vashti's name, and the girl as "Ellen" which is almost like "Ester", but I'm afraid that it would be too close to appropriation.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
If you are so close as to be wanting to change the name by one letter and still use it, why not just make it a retelling. Many stories get re-told.

If you take the book of Esther and change it such that it teaches a different lesson, or removes the real meaning of it, I would expect some will not like it. But, it would have to be something they became aware of first.
 
Don’t worry about those who will be offended, there will always be people who will get ‘offended’, but if done in a respectful way many a biblical story can be retold in fiction settings. Look at the success of The Red Tent.

Btw the premise sounds right up my street sign me up!
 
If you are so close as to be wanting to change the name by one letter and still use it, why not just make it a retelling. Many stories get re-told.

If you take the book of Esther and change it such that it teaches a different lesson, or removes the real meaning of it, I would expect some will not like it. But, it would have to be something they became aware of first.
It's not really close enough to be a "retelling", just a story with similar plotlines and parallels.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
If you are then hoping others wont see it as a retelling, I would not use a character of the similar name. Doing so invites people to suspect.
 

Rexenm

Inkling
I wanted to write a book called Iscariot. It was where Judas and Mary were lovers, but she fell for Jesus. Judas and Jesus were childhood friends, and they played cynics and skeptics, which inspired Judas to kill him. The moment Jesus passed on the cross, was when oaths became sharp, and love was created, because Judas wasn’t true of spirit. Pontius Pilate was sent by Herod to investigate the missing children. It was at the time of Fullmetal Alchemist. I wrote very little of it however, because maybe I wasn’t true of spirit.
 
I think if you change the name and location, and don't follow the storyline exactly, then you're fine. At most you'll get comments from people saying "this looks a bit like X".
 
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