In the stories that compile The Thousand and One Nights the narrator, Shahrazad begins her stories by saying “O happy king” as a way to inform the king of his good fortune and to remind him that happiness can be an alternative to revenge. The stories themselves share a common theme of betrayal, revenge, sympathy, and finally kindness. Shahrazad also shows the king how woman can be evil and vindictive as in the First Old Man’s Tale where the old man’s wife betrayed him by turning his mistress into a cow and his only son into a bull. In contrast, Shahrazad shows the king the heroism of good women. For example, in The Second Old Man’s Tale his new wife, whom the second old man barely knew saves him from his two envious brothers. Although the stories display justice, there is a level of mercy where no one is actually murdered for their wrong-doing.
I believe that the Norton editors chose the stories enclosed in the book to show the contribution of women to literature, as well as to show the evolution of women. Each story has a different journey but the destination is the same.
This is nice. You focus on the thematic issues, and the way in which the stories set themselves up to be one thing, and then turn into something else. Good work.