Shahrazad plans to marry the king to hopefully prevent him from marrying and killer more women in the kingdom. Her father, the king’s vizier, knows that she is putting her life at risk and tell her a story called “The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey” where a donkey gives an ox advice, but this ends up having bad consequences for the donkey. The father told this story to try to teach his daughter that unnecessary involvement can make the situation worse. He then tells her another tale called “The Tale of the Merchant and His Wife” which starts from where the first story left off only teaching a different lesson. It is about the merchant’s wife being curious about why his husband laughed, this led to a series of events which led to the wife being beaten. The moral of this story is that curiosity can lead to a bad outcome.
These two stories are the only ones told by Shahrazad’s father to her, while the rest are told by Shahrazad to the King. The narrative style of these stories is that they are two separate stories teaching different lessons, but one is a continuation of the other. This style is used throughout the 1001 Arabian Nights, since Shahrazad always stops at a cliffhanger to keep the King’s interest, but when she continues telling the stories they have different titles.
The stories also show the geographic location and time period of when these stories were told. This is shown in the story of the merchant and his wife. When everyone knew the merchant was about to die everyone was mourning, but after the merchant beat his wife where he wasn’t forced to reveal his secret, there was celebration because he wasn’t going to die, but also because he properly managed his wife in their eyes. It is obvious that in this time women could have been considered a little more than property and despite the wife being brutally beat this was still a cause for celebration. Also they repeat God many times, which gives an idea about the geographical region the stories take place.
Shahrazad plans to marry the king to hopefully prevent him from marrying and killer more women in the kingdom. Her father, the king’s vizier, knows that she is putting her life at risk and tell her a story called “The Tale of the Ox and the Donkey” where a donkey gives an ox advice, but this ends up having bad consequences for the donkey. The father told this story to try to teach his daughter that unnecessary involvement can make the situation worse. He then tells her another tale called “The Tale of the Merchant and His Wife” which starts from where the first story left off only teaching a different lesson. It is about the merchant’s wife being curious about why his husband laughed, this led to a series of events which led to the wife being beaten. The moral of this story is that curiosity can lead to a bad outcome.
These two stories are the only ones told by Shahrazad’s father to her, while the rest are told by Shahrazad to the King. The narrative style of these stories is that they are two separate stories teaching different lessons, but one is a continuation of the other. This style is used throughout the 1001 Arabian Nights, since Shahrazad always stops at a cliffhanger to keep the King’s interest, but when she continues telling the stories they have different titles.
The stories also show the geographic location and time period of when these stories were told. This is shown in the story of the merchant and his wife. When everyone knew the merchant was about to die everyone was mourning, but after the merchant beat his wife where he wasn’t forced to reveal his secret, there was celebration because he wasn’t going to die, but also because he properly managed his wife in their eyes. It is obvious that in this time women could have been considered a little more than property and despite the wife being brutally beat this was still a cause for celebration. Also they repeat God many times, which gives an idea about the geographical region the stories take place.