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1001 Nights

Despite the variety of different tales within the collection of stories known as either the Arabian Nights or 1001 Knights, the story actually revolves around a witty and beautiful female storyteller known as Scheherazade. King Shahriar discovers his wifeÆs infidelity. In his anger, he has her killed and determines to marry a new wife each day and to execute each one the next morning. Scheherazade is a beautiful young woman in the kingdom. She seeks to free the kingdom from King ShahriarÆs curse. As she tells her father, ôI am determined to stop this barbarous practice of the SultanÆs, and to deliver the girls and mothers from the awful fate that hangs over themö (Damrosch et al., 2004). She marries the King and after the ceremonies, she begins to tell him a tale. Though he thinks the tale is the last tale she will tell, Scheherazade cleverly provides a bit of preview for what will happen in the next tale. It is under this premise that the King decides to let her live. She will free the kingdom from its curse and bear three children to King Shahriar, who eventually falls devotedly in love with her.

There are a number of tales in 1001 Nights, with many of them leading into the next episode or tale. While each tale contains a different story, lesson, or moral, Scheherazade begins each of the tales with the same opening to the King, ôire, there was once upon a time,ö (Damrosch et al., 2004). The tales told by Scheherazade embody characters who are both good and evil. They are filled with magic, intrigue, humor, and mainly provide a moral or lesson. In the story ôThe Black King of the Dark Isles,ö we see that the troubles to be had in marriage are often part of the subject matter of these stories. In this tale, the King discovers that his wife is no longer in love with him and is plotting to murder him. When he discovers this, we also see that magical or mystical powers were often attributed to human beings in th...

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1001 Nights. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 03:14, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1711735.html