The Thousand And One Nights Analysis

Throughout the stories of “The Thousand and One Nights,” the focus is on the oppressor and the oppressed. Different scenarios play out in each of Shahrazad’s stories, but the most common one is through women’s battle for survival in a society dominated by men. The women of her tales, and Shahrazad herself, are beyond cunning. The only way to overcome the men who hold them down and abuse them is with their mind. They become wily and smart and fight to be their own person, and have the rights to their own beliefs.
Proof of the power that women have over men is shown in Shahrayar’s first wife. In her unfaithfulness, she completely transforms him from a kind and just king, to a bloodthirsty madman. In the prologue of “The Thousand and One Nights”,
They were reflections of her character, and what ultimately led the king to realize that she wasn’t the same unfaithful shrew that his first wife turned out to be. Shahrazad uses her stories to educate the king, and try to convince him to reconsider his hatred for all women. She uses stories that mirror their exact situation, from prisoners begging for their lives, strong women becoming victims and using their mind and talents to overcome situations, and the treasure that a woman really is. In one of Shahrazad’s stories, The “Tale of Sympathy the Learned,” the similarities between Shahrazad and the character in the story, Sympathy, are what gets so much attention in the story. It is a story of a female slave who is more educated than any scholar, and so very beautiful. The reason her intellect is so impressive is because Muslim women are only supposed to be knowledgeable in the works of “The Qur’an.” The man in the story, Abu al-Husn, isn’t aware of the brilliant gift of her mind, he only sees her as the only remaining possession he has, and thinks that her beauty and servitude may be enough to return some money so that he can continue to