Memucan’s counsel to the king is a highly calculated political and psychological maneuver designed to neutralize the queen, consolidate the king's absolute authority, and simultaneously protect the advisor from future retaliation. He proposes that the judgment be issued as an absolute, official decree directly from the king alone, bypassing the usual requirement for the ministers' approval [מלבי״ם, מגילת סתרים]. The primary approach among commentators is that Memucan is driven by intense personal fear. He worries that once the king's anger subsides, he might reconcile with his wife, who would then seek revenge against the advisor who plotted against her. To prevent this, Memucan pushes for an immediate and irreversible resolution [אלשיך, מנות הלוי, אור חדש]. This resolution includes stripping her of her royal title permanently [אלשיך], and some suggest it even involves swift execution by beheading to prevent her powerful relatives from intervening and saving her [תורה תמימה].
To guarantee that the king cannot change his mind, Memucan insists the decree be inscribed into the official and unalterable laws of Persia and Media, rather than merely being recorded in the royal chronicles. This transforms the punishment from a temporary measure into a permanent, eternal law [מלבי״ם, רש״י, אבן עזרא]. Establishing this law serves a dual purpose: it sets a firm legal precedent for any woman who might disrespect her husband [רש״י], and more importantly, it binds the king's hands. By making the decree legally irreversible, the advisors secure their own safety and peace of mind [יוסף אבן יחיא, אור חדש].
The ruling that Vashti may no longer appear before the king is phrased with diplomatic tact, though commentators agree that its practical meaning is a death sentence [רש״י, מגילת סתרים, אלשיך]. By referring to her strictly by her given name, without the title of queen, the decree emphasizes that she is being judged as a commoner who was only elevated through her marriage and is now stripped of her status [רלב״ג, אור חדש]. This careful phrasing also protects the king's public honor. Moving forward, people will say that Vashti does not appear before him because the law forbids it, rather than because she refuses his orders [מלבי״ם]. Furthermore, since monarchs typically resided in separate quarters and only summoned their wives when desired, legally banning her entry effectively severs the marriage entirely [עמנואל הרומי].
Anticipating that the king might grow lonely and long for Vashti's beauty, Memucan immediately proposes a solution: her royal position should be given to another woman who is better than her [אור חדש]. The replacement must be a woman of equal beauty to fill the physical void [אור חדש], but she must be better in her morals, character, and actions. Unlike Vashti, whose status relied on her ancestral lineage and pride, the new queen must possess her own inherent merit [אבן עזרא, אלשיך, ישע אלהים, שלום אסתר]. Interestingly, this proposal directly echoes the words the prophet Samuel once spoke to King Saul, telling him his kingdom would be given to a neighbor who is better than him. Just as the throne was taken from Saul’s family using this exact phrasing, the kingship is now destined to return to one of Saul’s descendants—Queen Esther [תורה תמימה].