Women's Subjectivity in Arabian Nights by Judith Grossman

966 Words2 Pages

Women's Subjectivity in Arabian Nights by Judith Grossman

Judith Grossman wrote an article concerning women's subjectivity in Arabian Nights. The article brought out many points to which I had never given thought. As I read the novel, I saw that women were considered evil and bad, but I didn't think much more of it. After reading Grossman's article I must say I agree with many of the thoughts expressed. She focuses on the fact that women are considered to be evil, but it is just because their true self has never had a chance to be free. Women are locked into this reciprocal cycle of deceit and unfaithfulness, only after being oppressed by their husbands or keepers, as in the case of the Jinnee and the maiden.

Grossman's article focused on several points I noticed when reading Arabian Nights. For example, the story of the Jinnee and his maiden in the chest surprised me. I never expected that the maiden would be so evil. I thought she would be different than the other women portrayed in this novel after being locked away for so long. However, the maiden is one of the most deceitful characters in this story. She is tired of being oppressed so she decides that she should have fun and obtain revenge. Her actions are actually small powertrips, her purpose being to have all the control in her affairs. As Grossman states,

"The Destiny cited in this passage cannot be hindered or averted is surely the familiar and inexorable cycle of coercion and revenge…By threatening other men with the Jinni's terrible power, she can practice sexual coercion on them in her turn, while getting revenge on her oppressor. The actions of oppressor and oppressed become fully reciprocal. Deceit meanwhile is the very mode of her continued existence as...

... middle of paper ...

...r points. Women are subjected to many things in the Arabian Nights, especially an unfair balance of power. They feel the need to right what was or is done to them. By doing this they are portrayed as evil, heinous, wenches that deserve nothing better than death. Although if you look at the situations they are placed in, then you would be able to see that it is truly the men's fault for not letting the women's true self emerge in their relationships. Grossman proves her points strongly, and shows that women are not evil like they are portrayed in Arabian Nights.

Bibliography:

Works Cited

Burton, Richard F. Arabian Nights Vol.1. Trans.Jack Zipes. New York: Penguin Putnam, Inc, 1991.

Grossman, Judith. "Infidelity and Fiction: The Discovery of Women's Subjectivity in Arabian Nights." The Georgia Review 34, Number 1 (Spring 1980): 113-126

Show More
Related

  • Sandra Cisneros's “Never Marry a Mexican”

    969 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...e relationship with men, as nothing but tools she can sharpen and destroy, lives through lust and an uncanny ability to blend into any social class makes her unique. Her character is proven as an unreliable narrator as she exaggerates parts of the story and tries to explain that she is in fact not guilty of being a mistress, but a person caught in a crossfire between two others.

    Read More

  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Joyce, James. “Araby”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 427 - 431.

    Read More

  • Inner Strength Of Women In A Thousand Splendid Suns By Khaled Hosseini

    1060 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout the novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini, Mariam and Laila are constantly having their inner strength challenged from birth to death. They both had different lives growing up, but they both lived in the same society, meaning that they both dealt with the disrespect from the Afghani culture.

    Read More

  • The Femme Fatale: Alex Forrest & Lady Bertilak & Alyson of Bath

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since the beginning of time, women have been seen as different from men. Their beauty and charms have been interpreted as both endearing and deadly to men. In the Bible, it was Eve’s mistake that led to humanity’s exile from the Garden of Eden. However, unlike in the Bible, in today’s world, women who drive men to ruin do not do so through simple mistakes and misunderstandings, they do so while fully aware of what effects their sexuality can cause. One thing remains constant through these portrayals of women, and that is that they are portrayed as flawed creations and therefore monstrous. It is a woman’s sex drive and sexuality that can lead to her monstrosity. The femme fatale is an enticing, exquisitely beautiful, erotic character who plays the ultimate trick of nature: she displays her beauty, captures the man and goes in for the kill. Films such as Adrian Lyne’s Fatal Attraction and stories such as Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Wife of Bath’s Tale, and Sir Gawain the Green Knight use the femme fatale as a means of making a woman into a monster; the femme fatale can never win in the battle of the sexes. But what is it that makes the femme fatale such a dangerously character for the hero as well as the readers or viewers?

    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

  • Feminism In Red Dog

    1315 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... in life is her sexual being. It is presented in the novel that men were disrespecting woman and have tried to gain control over women by disrespecting them. In the novel it was the want of knowledge which caused both men and women in the Okanagan to be unaware of a woman’s self-respect. Not only did men disrespect women but women disrespected themselves and other women around them in this era. By comparing characters of the novel to the women of now days they are considered equal and are respected. There are a lot of female characters in the novel that show qualities of being poor and insecure. Women should be given the same respect they give men and they should not be abused or mistreated. Everyone in the world today should stand up for the women and protect them so they are not abused. This is a crime and should be stopped to let the women live comfortable lives.

    Read More

  • Guided by Curiousity

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although sex, immorality, and the scandalous actions of women are major themes in The Arabian Nights, there is an underlying theme of curiosity throughout the story. In the foreword it is explained that the purpose of the book was to provide "excellent lessons" and "opportunity to learn the art of discourse" (Page 185). It also serves to "teach the reader to detect deception and to protect himself from it, as well as delight and divert him whenever he is burdened with the cares of life and the ills of this world" (Page 185). The stories told throughout The Arabian Nights express how out of a man's curiosity he can bring forth an undesired or unplanned outcome. Curiosity changes the situation for several of the characters in the story leading them into most times unwanted situations. It sends a message to the reader that one shouldn't let their actions be guided by curiosity, but rather by the "Supreme God who is the True Guide" (Page 185).

    Read More

  • Women In Tales From The Thousand And One Nights

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first glance, the reader sees the women shown as malicious, conniving adulterers. But, if one looks deeper into the stories, in reality, the women are rather clever and tactful.  In the Prologue, a women who is the prisoner of a jinnee threaten Shahriyar and Shahzaman to do her bidding

    Read More

  • The awakening

    789 Words  | 2 Pages

    Wolff, Cynthia Griffin. "Un-Utterable Longing: The Discourse of Feminine Sexuality in The Awakening." Studies in American Fiction 24.1 (Spring 1996): 3-23. Rpt. in Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. Ed. Janet Witalec. Vol. 127. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 May 2014.

    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

  • A Thousand Splendid Suns

    1242 Words  | 3 Pages

    In a nation brimming with discrimination, violence and fear, a multitudinous number of hearts will become malevolent and unemotional. However, people will rebel. In the eye-opening novel, A Thousand Splendid Suns written by Khaled Hosseini, the country of Afghanistan is exposed to possess cruel, treacherous and sexist law and people. The women are classified as something lower than human, and men have the jurisdiction over the women. At the same time, the most horrible treatment can bring out some of the best traits in victims, such as consideration, boldness, and protectiveness. Although, living in an inconsiderate world, women can still carry aspiration and benevolence. Mariam and Laila (the main characters of A Thousand Splendid Suns) are able to retain their consideration, boldness and protectiveness, as sufferers in their atrocious world.

    Read More

  • Sleeping Beauty: Feminist Critics

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    The biological differences that set apart the male and female gender throughout any culture remain eminent. Men are perceived as the stronger and dominant gender; women play the role of the weaker. In each culture the expectation of the manner in which men and women behave are influenced by the ideals and customs of that culture. In most predominant cultures, the man undertakes the role as a leader, and the woman devotes her life to the husband. Throughout history, traditions and literature provide a template to the identities of various cultures. Sleeping Beauty’s classic tale of a beautiful princess takes a central precept that previous patriarchal archetypes dominated during the 17th Century. The archetypal perceptions of women resulted from conscious and unconscious literature influenced by male-dominated perspectives and social standards.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In Joseph Conrad's The Heart Of Darkness

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    The role of women in The Heart of Darkness is at first seen as one that is very much a backseat role to that of a man’s in the empirical

    Read More

  • Women At Point Zero By Nawal El Saadawi

    1259 Words  | 3 Pages

    Women at Point Zero is a book written by Nawal El Saadawi where she focuses on the main character Firdaus and shares her story in a way that allows reader to get an idea of the patriarchal structures of Egyptian society. Her life story shows readers the obvious discontentment women have with the way society views them, and the glorification of things that go against normal societal structures. This book does an excellent job of portraying the patriarchal society and how women are dominated by men. However, it truly reinforces the stereotype that western culture has of Middle Eastern men as being animalistic beings ravaging defenseless women and the role of Islam.

    Read More

More about Women's Subjectivity in Arabian Nights by Judith Grossman

Open Document