One Thousand and One Nights

This work features both reverence for and prejudice towards women, the former often revolving around female intelligence and power and the latter revolving around female sexuality. This theme also provides the framework for the larger narrative structure. The tales begin with the story of Shahzaman and Shahriyar, two kings who find that their wives are unfaithful. Both receive personal wounds and respond violently, killing their wives. They travel the world to assess the situation more widely, confirming their suspicion that women are deceitful. As a result, both brothers become secure in their mistrust. Shahriyar takes this mistrust a step further, refusing to take a long-term partner, sleeping only with virgins, and then killing them the next day. In that sense, the work very much begins with a cautionary tale about women at large.

However, there is a promise of redemption through the character of Shahrazad, who volunteers to save her sex by engaging Shahriyar. In the end, through her storytelling, we find that she has succeeded in showing the king that she is “chaste and tender, wise and eloquent” (405). Shahriyar admits that she has brought him to repentance, so the tales end with a reverence towards and a redemption of women.

The other women featured throughout this tale exist somewhere on this spectrum of revered and reviled. In “The Tale of the Hunchback,” the narrative depicts mostly garrulous and threatening women. The tailor's wife scares him and nearly kills the hunchback. The lame young man is encouraged in his love for a woman beyond his reach by a mysterious old woman. The barber's brothers all fall prey to women and their seductive wiles, leading to their near destruction. In “The Fisherman and the Jinnee,” a young prince discovers that his beloved wife has been unfaithful and despises him, ultimately turning him half to stone and bewitching his kingdom. In the tale “Aladdin and the Enchanted Lamp,” Aladdin is bewitched by the Princess Badr-al-Budur. Although her careless behavior results in problems for him more than once, he professes at the end of his tale that he would suffer through anything for her.

However, in the tale “The Young Woman and her Five Lovers,” the narrative reveals a brilliant young woman who is able to cleverly trick five powerful men in her town to get her lover out of jail. The woman's scheme is so ingenious and comical that even her victims rejoice in the end. In this tale, there is an appreciation of the ingenuity of women and an appreciation of their devotion to their lovers. The first and second girl in “The Porter and the Three Girls of Baghdad” appear as sympathetic victims, revered for their power. The first girl is a complex character, shown as brave and intelligent as well as compassionate and firm. She is very much the hero of the tale. Another epic hero is the princess within the tale of the second dervish. She sacrifices her life to save the dervish and her father, engaging in an epic battle against a jinnee. She is revered both for her bravery and devotion and her skill in magic. There are several women throughout the tales who also exist on this spectrum of reviled versus revered, ultimately ending on the end of revered with Shahrazad.