The Thousand And One Nights: A Feminist Analysis

While analyzing Chaucer and especially his Wife of Bath’s Tale, it is important to recognize the ideas of female sovereignty in marriage expressed throughout the text. These are discussed by the writer in terms of gender roles that take form of the most “radical ideas on gender theory” (Carter, p. 329). The Tale recognizes power in marriage as the furthermost desire of all women, as stated in the text: Wommen desiren to have sovereintee As wel over hir housbonde as hir love, And for to been in maistrye him above. (Chaucer, p. 245)

Beginning with the prologue, the Wife of Bath makes an argument for why she believes sexuality is the key weapon to use against men to achieve her goals. Doing such, she twists the typical gender roles of the time; that women are dependent upon their husbands and need a partner for protection and wealth. The Wife also shows in her stories how she was able to falsely accuse men and continuously hold the upper hand with them, which goes against traditional gender roles of the time of women being helpless without a husband.

In The Thousand and One Nights translated by Husain Haddawy, there is an emphasis on the role women play in and how their characters affect the male view on the rights and freedom women are entitled to. The value of women in the tale vanished after King Shahzaman’s wife had committed adultery with one of his palace workers. In the East during the time of this tale, there was little to no value for women, which gave men the power to use them as sex slaves and be able to throw them away after they have been sexually fulfilled. One day, when the vizier’s daughter Shahrazad volunteers to calm the raging king by telling him many tales and distracting him from his sexual acts and killing spree. The tale of The Thousand and One Nights was believed to be misogynistic, and presented women to be adulteresses who caused the downfall of men (Blythe). This tale was written in ancient Middle-Eastern civilization where women did not have rights or freedom within their societies and were victimized to be seen as the root of all evil and that “women are not to be trusted” (609. Haddawy). This tale will be evaluated based on the traditions placed in the ancient Middle-East, the modern-day observations of how women are treated in westernized countries, and the changes perceived.

In The Thousand and One Nights the audience is introduced to a pair of brothers who share a similar misfortune: unfaithful wives. While the younger brother, Shahzaman, handles the unfortunate situation at a more intimate level, the older brother, Shahrayar, takes his revenge to a grander scale. Becoming completely untrusting of women and even developing an intense hatred for them, Shahrayar forms a plan to marry a new woman in the town every day, sleep with them, and then kill them the next morning. His plan progresses at such a quick rate that the only girls left in the town are his vizier’s daughters. The older of the two, Shahrazad, who is established as being well-educated in a multitude of topics such as knowing “poetry by heart, had studied historical reports, and was acquainted with the sayings of men and the

Kaushalya, who was meek, accepted her husband’s other wives, as well as the fact that her husband no longer has any sexual relations with her. The book reinforces the idea of strong men and weak women. Where women who

Any casual reading through A Thousand and One Nights makes it clear that there’s some negative themes present. While both male and female characters are portrayed as evil, flawed, and sinful, women seem to be most definitely painted in the worse light. The entire story begins /because/ the brother’s wives cheat on them; first Shahzaman, then Shahrayar. Letting this be the idea that starts everything does cast

The Wife of Bath apparently attempts to emphasize female dominance over men. She contradicts many of the harsh customs and declares her own haughty assessment of women’s function in society and in relationships. In the story, Chaucer explains that what women want is sovereignty over their husbands. According to the tale, women desire to be treated as masters over their love. The story also suggests that

The book, The Thousand and One Nights, is an intriguing story. It has one overarching story with several other stories being told by the various characters of the main storyline. However, behind this main story arc and the several other minor story arcs, lies a common theme, sexism. Several of the male characters in The Thousand and One Nights display their sexism in the way they act and think, and even the main female character of the story, Shahrazad, on the surface level, encourages this way of thinking through her storytelling to King Shahrayar. One would think that given Shahrazad’s relations with the king, she would try in someway to dissuade the misogynistic king from his line of thinking. However, while appealing to the king’s

In view of the fact that the Wife of Bath herself does seem to behave in the manner women are accused of behaving by the anti-feminist writers, it is not impossible that the Wife of Bath's Prologue could be considered a vehicle for the anti-feminist message under the guise of a seeming "feminist" exterior, since her confession is frequently self-incriminating (e.g. her treatment of her husbands, her tendency to "swere and lyen") and demonstrates the truth of the claims made by the anti-feminists even while she is disparaging them and making them look bad -- as in her claim that anti-feminist writers (specifically the "clerks", i.e. learned scholars) are revenging themselves on women because of their own sexual impotence that prevents

This eventually led to her committing suicide in an attempt to give her daughter the strength that she lacked. Secondly, these women, especially the latter wives and the concubines, lose a lack of identity. For example, when these women marry, they are referred to as which wife they are. Even the wives refer to each other as first wife, second wife, etc.

Chaucer’s “Wife of Bath Prologue and Tale” focus on the story telling of a woman who has experienced her fair share of marital issues. She is depicted as a promiscuous woman, married five times and had plenty of male suitors, the Wife was not like any other woman during this era. Although her reputation was how most perceived her, she was not a fan of being scrutinized for what she considered as her duty as a woman; to not remain single. This is seen through the depiction of women in society, how marriage ought to be in the eyes of religion, and how men were to view a woman like her. The language that is used throughout Chaucer’s prologue and tale allude to the evolution of women as well as how they struggled to gain any recognition in

Society’s view of women has changed as a result of what they have accomplish to become relevant inside a man oriented culture. Women are accused of being untrustworthy, due to their approach of going around the rules. Although this may be true, their limited possibilities push them to use their cleverness to look for alternatives that will help them reach their goals. The stories of The Arabian Nights demonstrate that when women are in control of a situation they must be trusted, as long as they act upon good will.

The investigation into whether or not Geoffrey Chaucer was ahead of his time in terms of his views on feminism has been up for debate for hundreds of years. The Wife of Bath’s Prologue is just one solitary

The Wife of Bath's Prologue sometimes gives way to sobering moments. It happens when the Wife alludes to the prevalence of sexual assault in her society, or expresses heart-wrenching pain at being forced to listen to horribly insulting stories and proverbs about women. You realize that in Chaucer's time, as in the modern day, what's great about being a woman is mixed in with what's frustrating, sobering, and sometimes painful about it. The wife of bath was a tale that gave an example of how demeaning women were treated. Although in the end of this tale she gave into the shameful degrading stereotype about women, it gave a different perspective of

She does not tell the knight what to think about women, but instead wants him to learn for himself what women most desire. She gives him, “A twelfmonth and a day to seeche and lere / An answere suffisant in this matere” (Chaucer l. 915). The knight must interview countless women to find the answer to this question. He is forced to listen, and learn from their desires, instead of following his own and raping them. The Queen allows the knight to live, but forces him to consider and value women’s opinions. Perhaps she allows him to live because all men at times aggressively assert their domination over women and the better option is to rehabilitate them, rather than killing every aggressive man.