“The Thousand and One Nights”

The reading of “The Thousand and One Nights” is almost identical to a situation occuring in a recent New York Times article called “Diana’s Ring Seals Prince William’s Marriage Plans. Both woman in their respective stories are educated. For example, Shahrazad “[is] intelligent, knowledgeable, wise and refined. She ha[s] read and learned” (B, 414) and Kate Middleton “would be the first queen in British history to have a college degree, or indeed, to have any college education at all” (A, 14). Both Shahrazad and Kate Middleton are courageous enough to step forward and put their lives at risk. Shahrazad is courageous because the King, who she desires to be with has a custom of  “tak[ing] every night the daughter of a merchant or a commener, spend[ing] the night with her, then have her put to death the next morning. He continued to do this until all the girls perished…” (B, 414). By spending the night with the King, Shahrazad takes on a risk of being killed by the king’s vizier who is her father. Kate Middleton is courageous because she has the ring that Prince William’s father gave to his mother. The ring could possibly foreshadow a tragic death for Kate that has already occured to the previous owner of the ring. Although both woman put themselves in a situation where their death may be imminent, the reason they decide to do so are vastly different. The disparity lies in the fact that Shahrazad desire to be with the King is to stop his tyranical ways and Kate’s desire to be with Prince William is for love and happiness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/world/europe/17royal.html?ref=todayspaper