Comparing A Thousand And One Nights - 1266 Words

I would like to disclaim this with the statement that I had a slightly difficult time reading through some of the themes of A Thousand and One Nights, for personal reasons somewhat related. That being said, I did my absolute best to go through it still with an analytical eye and a mind hopefully still open enough to see both sides. Any casual reading through A Thousand and One Nights makes it clear that there’s some negative themes present. While both male and female characters are portrayed as evil, flawed, and sinful, women seem to be most definitely painted in the worse light. The entire story begins /because/ the brother’s wives cheat on them; first Shahzaman, then Shahrayar. Letting this be the idea that starts everything does cast†¦show more content†¦Additionally, it can be argued that they’ve also betrayed their country, by betraying the rulers of them. Shahrayar is described with His power reached the remotest corners of the land and its people, so that the country was loyal to him, and his subjects obeyed him. (1176) As Savanna Conner commented in one of our forum discussions, this goes a far way to explaining just why it would be such an additional betrayal. However, what if the true theme of this isn’t women themselves, but /sin/? Initially, the two wives, as well as the slaves, all sin by their moral codes, and they’re punished for it, no less and no more than God has in the stories of their religions. Then things get a bit interesting. The two brothers go out to try and find someone who has a worse situation then they do, so that they may recover and be able to return to the kingdom. They do not find and speak to another man who has been betrayed, however, they find the betrayer instead. But there is a twist. They find a woman yes, but one who has been locked up and hidden by a demon, one trying to stop what God had already foreordained. They cry out â€Å"O God, O God! There is no power and no strength, save in God the Almighty, the Magnificent. Great is women’s cunning.† A strangely positive thing to say about the women who are being written about in such a negative light. From this tail, they return to the castle, as they said they would, but the king Shahrayar