Comparing The Thousand And One Nights

1079 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Women rights in islam paragraphs

is deemed appropriate.” Of course, the moral choices that we made in the previous life are responsible for our present dharma. Being a Hinduism, I learnt to do good dharma no matter what the circumstances are. In addition to this, Qur’an is also one of the famous early world literature. Qur’an is the holy book for Islam and is the most popular book among the Arabian literature. The Qur’an is a holy book for Islam which consists of God’s final revelation to humanity through Prophet Muhammad. Smith states that, “The words of the Koran came to Muhammad in manageable segments over twenty-three years through voices that seemed at first to vary and sometimes sounded like “the reverberating of bells,” but which gradually condensed into a single …show more content…

One of such early world literature is The Thousand And One Nights. This book was written by anonymous authors. It is probably a composite of oral stories which are developed over several centuries in different countries. Each collection features different stories but they are all centered around the frame story of the King Shahrayar and his wife Shahrazad. The king found his first wife is unfaithful, Shahrayar kills her and swears to marry every new girl and kills her the next morning in order to prevent from further betrayal. Shahrazad, the king vizier’s daughter planned to marry him so that she can end this pattern. She then got married with the king and began to tell him story on every night. She always begins the story and stops it in the middle, so that the king will be eager to hear the rest of the story the coming night. She continues this pattern for almost 1001 nights until the king finally change his heart. The main important part of this literature is that they consist of frame tales which entertains the readers by showing the culture of that time period. Studying this literature tell the truth about the things that happened at that time. Some of the stories serve similar function today. Knowing this literature influences me that one should not be afraid to do certain things which are beneficial to others no matter how danger the work is. Women can raise their voice in …show more content…

It is a frame tale poem that has numerous storytellers and it also talks against various stereotypes. This book mainly focuses on society and the relationship between story and storyteller. It also helps to know about the lives of people during the period of time when this text was written. The main theme of this story is to give power to the women over her husbands or lovers. Studying this literature tells about the stereotypes which are not common. Stereotypes concerning beauty is the good example which is not a common stereotype. In the text, the king told to the women that all the beautiful women are cheaters. In fact, all the beautiful women are not cheaters. In this text, an ugly woman told the king to choose between the two things which are become ugly with loyal to her king or beautiful without loyalty. Then, the ugly woman was given a chance by the king to choose between the two things. After that, the ugly woman chooses to become a nice looking lady and choose to be loyal to her husband. Beauty is concerned to the person connected. This literature influences me to give power to the women over men in all the things. A good family needs equal power and decision capabilities between husband and wife. There is totally different in male/female relationships in society today than in the prologue and tale. Now, if either men or women cheat

Show More
Related

  • Mao's Last Dancer

    433 Words  | 1 Pages

    The composer has aimed this text for general reading by all people over the age of ten. However as this publication is the young reader’s edition, it is targeted at young readers. People who may wish to read the book may be able to attain it through mediums such as book stores and libraries etc. Although this publication of the novel is the young reader’s edition, there is a publication aimed at adults.

    Read More

  • Woman Character of The Odyssey, Medea, and Thousand and One Arabian Nights

    1052 Words  | 3 Pages

    Literature is the key to our world or language. Many writers have emerged from this subject such as Homer who wrote The Odyssey and Euripidies who wrote about the evil Medea. Also mentioned in this paper are the Thousand and One Arabian Nights which is a collection of folktales and stories that are compiled into one. Each of these works of literature has a woman character that has many similarities in solving their problems. In The Odyssey the woman character that will be in comparison is Penelope which is Odysseus’s wife. In the story of Medea, Medea is of course the character we will be discussing and Shaharazad is the woman character from the Thousand and One Arabian Nights that will also be in comparison. Each of these women find themselves in a particularly “sticky situation.” However, Penelope, Medea, and Shahrazad are three strong women whose perseverance and cleverness help them to attain their goals.

    Read More

  • The Thousand And One Nights Vs Medea Analysis

    1471 Words  | 3 Pages

    Due to traditional stereotypes of women, literature around the world is heavily male-dominant, with few female characters outside of cliché tropes. Whenever a female character is introduced, however, the assumption is that she will be a strong lead that challenges the patriarchal values. The authors of The Thousand and One Nights and Medea use their female centered stories to prove their contrasting beliefs on the role of women not only in literature, but also in society. A story with a female main character can be seen as empowering, but this is not always the case, as seen when comparing and contrasting Medea and The Thousand and One Nights.

    Read More

  • Egyptian And Chinese Poem Analysis

    956 Words  | 2 Pages

    Literature shows us the changes of our society from time to time. It also gives us an idea about people, culture, politics, gender traditions, as well as an overall view of previous civilizations. As a part of literature, poetry introduces us to different cultures with different perspectives. Ancient Egypt and ancient China may differ in terms of culture, politics, economic stability, tradition, or even in religious belief. However, in poetry, especially in love lyrics both Egyptian and Chinese poems portray common area of describing women, social attitudes toward love, sexuality and the existence of romance or selfishness in relationships. . If we look at the Egyptian poem “My god, my Lotus” and the Chinese poem “Fishhawk”, we will see both poems have similarities in describing relationships. Also, they have the similarity of imagining the lovers and their expression of love toward each other. However, both poems have some significant differences in terms of representing female sexuality, gender disparity and the display of love.

    Read More

  • Treatment Of Women In The Odyssey Essay

    1329 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Homer's epic poem the Odyssey, there are many themes that serve to make a comment about the meanings of the story. The theme of women in the poem serves to make these comments but also establishes a point of view on women in the reader. From this point of view, a perspective is developed into the "best" and "worst" in women. Achievement of this is through the characterization of many women with single notable evil qualities. Similar to the biblical story of Adam and Eve, Eve like the many women in the Odyssey brings about pain and suffering for mankind. Contrary to the depicting of women as roots of evil, the reader sees the other traits of women that are most desirable. The roles of these women are achieved by their portrayal throughout the poem. This in return has a significant affect on how the poem and the message that is conveyed.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Freak Of Nature

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    The story shows prejudice of people. Like “Lusus Naturae”, the family treats her like a monster which starts from the stereotyping of appearance. Actually the behavior and mind of the family are cruel like a monster nature although their figures are not a monster. People should be concerned more on inner sight as compared to visible sight. Also, the appearance should not be a reason to discriminate human

    Read More

  • Obeyed Wifehood And Conceiving Womanhood In Othello And Oroonoko

    2129 Words  | 5 Pages

    Many readers feel the tendency to compare Aphra Behn's Oroonoko to William Shakespeare's Othello. Indeed they have many features in common, such as wives executed by husbands, conflicts between white and black characters, deceived heroes, the absolute vulnerability of women, etc. Both works stage male characters at both ends of their conflicts. In Othello, the tragic hero is Othello, and the villain is Iago. In Oroonoko, the hero is Oroonoko, the vice of the first part is the old king, and the second part white men in the colony. In contrast to their husbands, both heroines—Desdemona and Imoinda—seem more like "function characters" who are merely trapped in their husband's fates, occasionally becoming some motivation of their husbands (like Desdemona is Othello's motivation to rage, Imoinda's pregnancy drives Oroonoko restless to escape). While Shakespeare and Behn put much effort in moulding them, to many readers they are merely "perfect wives". This paper aims to argue that, Desdemona and Imoinda's perfect wifehood may be the product of compliance to male-dominated societies, where women are

    Read More

  • A Story About The Body Poem Analysis

    741 Words  | 2 Pages

    This poem opens up the eyes of the reader and teaches us a lesson about life. It is essentially an example of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”. The woman seems so perfect on the outside and for that reason the man wants to be with her, but when he knows that the cover of her book is different from that of most, then he instantly makes up his mind that he won’t even open

    Read More

  • Comparison of how The Flea and To His Coy Mistress Present and Develop the Poets' Arguments

    2016 Words  | 5 Pages

    The poets integrated ?metaphysical conceits? as focal parts of these poems. Along with these, they used effective language as a basis for their convincing arguments, they included subjects of periodical importance (e.g. ?courtship? and ?religion?), and use very clever structures that are manipulated in order to make the poem read in the desired way. The very clear indication of the theme in question was strongly aided by the way in which the personas portrayed the emotions they felt and the way they showed their attitudes towards the subject. Considering all these factors, the poets made critical arguments to the mistresses in order to alter their views, thus changing their minds, on denying the poets the sex that they desired so strongly.

    Read More

  • Masculinity In Beauty And The Beast

    1028 Words  | 3 Pages

    Through the method of socialization, the narrative evolves the stereotype of the human primitive within the patriarchal system, to stressing the significance of virtue and good nature beneath the beastliness of man. The characterization of Beast affects the text’s representation of appropriate masculinity through the contrast of beastliness to inner virtue. While his figure is unsettling and monstrous, the inner character of the Beast displays good nature. During dinner with the Beast, Beauty comments on his kind mannerism by stating, “’among mankind,’ says Beauty, ‘there are many that deserve that name more than you, and I prefer you, just as you are, to those, who, under a human form, hide a treacherous, corrupt, and ungrateful heart’” and continues to say, “ 'tis thousand pities, anything so good natured should be so ugly”. While his stature is revealed through the diction, his good mannerism and lack of sense is characterized in the dialogue of the characters that see his appearance but acknowledge his virtue. Therefore, the Beast does not win the heart of the Beauty through his appearance; at first she refuses his advances because of his ugliness. However, she contemplates, ““Is it his fault if he is so ugly, and has so little sense? He is kind and good, and that is sufficient. Why did I refuse to marry him? I should be happier with the monster than my sisters are with their husbands; it is neither wit, nor a fine person, in a husband, that makes a woman happy, but virtue, sweetness of temper, and complaisance, and Beast has all these valuable qualifications”. The Beauty chooses to return to Beast because of his inner virtue despite his beastliness and lack of wit. The return of Beauty is a reward for the good virtue of Beast. This socialized the reward system of

    Read More

  • The Thousand and One Nights

    903 Words  | 2 Pages

    When a person becomes trapped in a situation that stems from an individual with greater authority, being manipulative can be a very promising method to escape. The Thousand and One Nights does a very good job of being a good example of someone in this situation that uses stories within a story to capture encapsulate the attention of the reader. Despite the many little stories that go into the text, the main story behind it all is about a king named King Shahrayar and how he goes insane after catching his wife having sexual relations with a slave. After he sees this happen, he realizes that he can never trust any woman again and none of them are trustworthy. By expressing his views on women, he decides to marry a different woman every night, then the next morning have them killed by beheading. This is an ongoing event that brings death to most of the women in the village. Soon after, the king’s Vizier’s daughter, Shahrazad, came up with a brilliant idea that will end up saving her fellow countrywomen and hopefully keep the king from murdering so many innocent people. Her method behind all this is by telling the kind a different story every night that leaves him on a cliffhanger, making him curious enough to keep her alive for another day to continue her story. Shahrazad keeps herself spared from the king because of her cunning, and compassionate personality.

    Read More

  • Influence of Cultures on The Thousand and One Nights

    1440 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stories like Sindbad, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp and other popular stories are very common today in the western culture. Animated movies were also made for the entertainment of kids on these popular stories. One might wonder that where these stories originated and how it came down and made place in the western culture. Although these stories are very popular in both the western culture and the eastern culture but the original literary work is not so popular in common people. Theses stories are some of the stories from the Arabic work "The Thousand and One Nights." The work of "The Thousand and One Nights" represents basically a female that is a strong and clever idol and continuously imaginative and creative. It is an anonymous work which is widely known in the Arab world. It is an Arabic collection of a thousand tales, which is derived from the Persian version, telling of a King who was in the habit of killing his wives after the first night, and who was led to abandon this practise by the cleverness of the Wezir's daughter, who nightly told him a tale which she left unfinished at dawn, so that his curiosity led him to spare her till the tale should be completed. Many people have written about these stories, that where they originated, what time period was it originated, how they have been changed, and also literary criticism of the work.

    Read More

  • Re-Queering Sappho's Physical Characteristics Of Women

    383 Words  | 1 Pages

    “Fine” is a physical attribute of a woman; every man hopes to marry a good looking women. “Under” portrays that males have more dominance/power than women do. “Asia” suggests that women are considered laborers whether it is they get payed less but do more work than men or they are the person who carries the child during pregnancy. On the other hand, Sappho uses masculine words such as “embroidered”, “straps”, and “handwork”to suggest that men are considered the “dominant” gender. “Embroidered” resembles decorative; usually a king wears embroidery. “Straps” resembles a man’s power physically. “Handwork” resembles a man’s physical strength. As a result, we can see that Sappho brings up very important roles of both men and women in society. Women are seen as powerless individuals while men are seen as powerful individuals.  an important issue of women's inequality by describing women as powerless and used as an object rather than a human being. Based on the Sappho poem, the author from the article “Re-Queering Sappho” feels importantly about this issue of Sappho’s queerness in her writing. The author admires Sappho’s cleverness

    Read More

  • Hostess, Peace Weaver, and Mother

    869 Words  | 2 Pages

    Within the pages of the well-known epic poem are many extraordinary and warring narratives of the Middle Ages. Beowulf is important because it is one of the most ancient European epics written in the vernacular, or native tongue. The seemingly super natural heroes of this exciting and famous writing have a great impact on the typical roles of their women. As declared through out the many lines of the astonishing poem, the women have many purposes and serve a variety of roles. Wealhtheow, Hygd, Hildeburh, Freawaru, and Grendel’s Mother give examples of the historical roles that are expected of the women of this ancient time. The women in “Beowulf” have the significant roles of hostess, peaceweaver, and mother.

    Read More

  • Analysis of The Darling, by Anton Chekhov

    1562 Words  | 4 Pages

    In Conclusion, this story portrays a woman who is insecure, lonely, and looking to love and to be loved. This love is something which Olenka searches for in males, both adults, and boys, she thinks she finds this love, in her husbands and, lover. She what she thinks to be love, in her first husband, and then her second, but the third male in her life, her lover, known as Voldichka is there only for his satisfaction. Olenka does get the fulfillment of love needed y Voldichka. Olenka than tries through a boy named Sasha, Voldichka’s son. It is true to this reader that even though Olenka experienced these relationships with these men and the boy, Sasha, she still never found a complete fulfillment in life. Olenka did not experience respect as a woman, but someone who would be there as needed. Olenka never earned respect as most women do, she to this reader only was a filler for others, others of the gender known as male.

    Read More

More about Comparing The Thousand And One Nights

Open Document