You know, I was wondering about that listening to megillah this year, since it never says anything explicitly about her methods. I do have a speculative answer, though.
If you look at the narrative, Esther is very hesitant about the plan to beg to stop the decree. She lives with the king; she knows what he’s like, how unreasonable he can be. When Mordechai tells her to go to the king about the decree he has made about the Jews, she responds with: but if I go appear before him and he hasn’t summoned me, he’ll put me to death. A valid fear, really, considering Achashverosh’s temperament and all the social rules in place. But she goes to the king anyway; “if I perish, I perish,” she says, and after fasting and so on, she appears before the king, and he feels favorably towards her, and doesn’t have her put to death (which is convenient for us: Thanks for Not Murdering Our Favorite Princess, Achashverosh!). (Also, disclaimer that there are probably other ~relationship~ things happening here, but I’ve actually never learned Esther much beyond pshat, so I’m sticking to what I know here.)
At this point, she’s already done something bold, and risky, and going against convention. Even though he claims he’ll be generous towards her request, again, he’s not exactly your #1 Trust Everything He Says person, you feel? So she makes a humble request, and one that she knows he’ll like: come join me for a wine party, with your best bro, Haman!
My guess is that after/during this party, she’s still hesitant. It’s still… I mean, imagine being in her place. What if Achashverosh doesn’t grant the request? What if revealing herself does lead to her death? Most importantly – well, she’s chosen to be the queen, and then a terrible
antisemite becomes the king’s best bro, and they make a horrible decree
against the Jews. What if that’s what G-d wants to happen, you know? Notably, when she asks Achashverosh for the second party to happen, during the first, she uses the word “king” two times (“if I find favor in the eyes of the king, and if it pleases the king…”); this is taken as an allusion not just to Achashverosh but to G-d, the king of kings.
And then — well, look at the events of the megillah:
- Haman goes home, swollen with pride, which is quickly deflated by Mordechai refusing to bow to him, as usual. He devises a plan, building a gallows for Mordechai.
- That same night, Achashverosh can’t sleep; reading through old records, he realizes he needs to honor Mordechai for saving his life (which happened earlier in the story).
- Haman comes, just as the king has had that realization, into the court. The king asks him how to honor someone who should be honored, Haman assumes the king is referring to him, and is instead forced to give the grand honors he describes to Mordechai, publicly.
- While Haman is recovering from the aftermath of that, the king’s guards immediately take him to the second party.
If Esther was hesitant before; well, if anything is a sign that she’s doing okay, having Haman lead her unclecousinhusbandfatherfigureJewishleader Mordechai through the streets of the capital, him wearing the clothes of the king on the king’s horse, him shouting “such will be done to a man who the king likes,” yeah, that’s a pretty good sign. With all that having happened, she can now go ahead and make the request of Achashverosh, and in the end she succeeds.
That’s just my reading, though. There could be other interpretations (or, um, actual commentary) that explains it, and there’s gotta be midrashim - if there’s any story with wild midrashim, it’s Esther - but this is what made most sense to me from the pshat. If anyone has followup questions, more to add - well, you know where to find me!
Happy Purim to everyone!