Women In The Arabian Nights: Their Best-Known Tales

Fairy Tales are not just stories that parents tell to their children, but stories with hidden valuable messages which are mostly left on a side. In the article “An Introduction to Fairy Tales,” Maria Tatar clearly explains how people need fairy tales in their lives. Tatar also states how fairy tales have the ability to take the listener, especially children’s, into a journey in which they can play with their imagination so that they can discover their deepest fears and wishes. Personally I agree with the author, because of the fact that in an individual’s lives as they get older, they will try to define themselves, sometimes comparing their own life with a character from their favorite story or Fairy Tale.

Women have had a hard time with their lives for as long as we know. They were treated as property, an item, and less than a male would ever be. They have struggled, but some struggled more than others. Some lead an easy life as less than human, but others had a hard time. The hardships may have been due to disease, child birth, and home life. This paper will cover the hardships between the Chesapeake and New England women and their differences.

“There is no protection. To be female in this place is to be an open wound that cannot heal. Even if scars form, the festering is ever below” (Morrison 163). Toni Morrison, in her novel A Mercy, suggests that women in 17th century American society were constantly subjugated as inferiors no matter their class or privilege. Although Rebekka and Widow Ealing were both privileged, white women, they still faced the societal pressures that harmed the mother-child relationships among the slaves – Lina, Florens, and Sorrow. Each chapter of A Mercy is told from a different character’s perspective, allowing readers to understand the similarities among the female characters’ standpoints during this time period. By depicting the tribulations of motherhood that extend beyond society’s narrow stereotype, Morrison exposes how societal pressures of the late 17th century America influenced the complexities of motherhood.

Hannah Grafton was a wealthier, upper class woman of the time. Her house contained lots of furniture and she had a punch bowl in her parlor , showing wealth and implying that they had frequent company. Hannah was not as self-sufficient as Beatrice Plummer and relied more on trade than manufacturing. Beatrice belonged to a middle class family; her house was “devoid of ornament” , yet comfortable. Being a middle class woman, Beatrice did not have the luxury of a wash house or trading goods. Lastly is Magdalen Wear, whose work was shaped by her family’s poverty. She had a smaller house with few belongings, along with four children . To a poorer family like the Wears, children were an asset because they would be able to take on tasks of their own. Ulrich illustrates that even a small margin of class can greatly affect a woman’s work and

As the red tent followed the life journey of Dinah she encountered several different cultures. As she traveled, Dinah was introduced to new family dynamics unlike her own. Men and women from her mother’s culture did not eat with their husbands, or have any real relationship at all with them. Whereas in Egypt, men and women would sit down beside each other at meals. Husbands would kiss upon their wife’s hands and show them affection in public. At first this was unbelievable for Dinah, as these things would never occur in her own culture. Food and clothing also changed through her journey. Foods in Egypt were very sweet and she described them as setting her teeth on edge. Clothing went from a thick wool material in Haran to a very fine

A few roles of women prior to the World War I consisted of cooking, cleaning, and caring for the children. These were the basic fundamental jobs that women were expected of women to do,” (Campbell 1) .During this time men were the sole base of the household income, and the head

Many people describe the role as a mother and a wife as something that is to be welcomed, a natural stage for women. However for the narrator, it changed from something seemingly beautiful to “old foul, bad...” Motherhood to her is then what creative women were to other people during the 19th century. Creativity was natural for the narrator, unlike motherhood; it was part of her being. Motherhood however, was a prison of domestic

The first night's story in Arabian Nights is that of the Merchant and the Demon. Told by Shahrazad, the story offers a remarkable parallel to her own situation as she faces immanent death. Thus, the story of the Merchant and the Demon is told as a parable within the frame story, presenting a poignant analogy for Shahrazad's own situation. The Merchant and the Demon is a short tale but one filled with themes such as power, guilt, justice, and moral responsibility. Through the clever analogy with her own situation, Shahrazad also explores the theme of creative problem solving in tricky situations. Moreover, the story illustrates the core differences between pre-Islamic and Islamic values in Arabian society. Because the theme of gender roles and norms are not present within the Merchant and the Demon, the story shows how sexism is simply a form of general political and social oppression.

In recent years, America’s attention has been gripped by stories of women who have escaped from the Middle East. Each has a unique story, but they all have the same themes of oppression, abuse, and domination. Americans rushed onto the scene ready to “save” Middle Eastern women and many of the activists are now been highly praised for the influence they made in the region. Others, however, have come to question whether the Muslim women in the Middle East really needed the U.S. to rescue them from Islam. *Insert Thesis*

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.

Contemplating the relationship between gender and power, one undoubtedly notices that tradition regards men as the holders of official office and power. Historically, men have also always been the leaders of their families, and turned to in times of trouble or need. Making generalizations is normally a weak approach to any task; in this case however, it is necessary to do so in order to illustrate how drastically opposite the situations prove in various selections from "1001 Arabian Nights." Rather than men taking critical roles of power, the women characters, especially at crucial moments in the plot, empower themselves far beyond the male figures, and, consequently,

A woman had a busy domestic life. A woman played the role of wife, mother, teacher and manager. She had to please her husband, bear and raise children, educate her children, and manage all daily household activities. In the home, the woman was the jack of all trades. Part of the role of the female was to take raw goods, and turn them into useful items, such as food, candles, and clothing. Women had to clean, butcher and prepare all game brought home to the family. A woman was a household factory. Many items in the home were created by women. All clothing was made by spinning, weaving and stitching. All cloth was washed by hand without the aid of any machines. Candles were made at home by weaving a wick and pouring hot wax into a mold. A woman had to be educated enough to teach her sons and daughters the skills of life. Women spent the majority of their time performing daily tasks, but still were able to have leisure activities such as painting, embroidery, and charity work. Women had very few legal rights. In the majority of colonies, women had no legal control over their lives. It was the consensus among society that

Men have always been and most likely are the leaders of their families. Men are always supposed to be strong and fend for themselves, and always take care of the women and the children. In this case though, things are rather switched around. In the Arabian Nights, women play a very empowering role. It seems that in most cases the women are equal to the men and play the same roles as the men in Arabian Nights. The stories in Arabian Nights give a different insight as to what was going on during this time. The women were not valued as much as they should have been, they were often punished for not being as womanly as the man would like them to be.

From a plethora of many authors and compilations over many centuries comes the fourteenth century The Thousand and One Nights, a Middle Eastern frame story during which there are as many as four implanted stories. In the outermost frame of this tale, a king who is betray by his wife vows to take a new wife each night and kill her the next morning in order to prevent further unfaithfulness. The main inner frame are stories from one of his wives which she continues each night to keep the king interested and thus postpone her death. Through these stories, the reader can examine the role of men and women in this time, specifically how women function in conjunction to men in the text. The reader may assume the men are superior while the woman are inferior, but through close reading of the text, the reader will discover that women in the text are only treated subordinately by men in the story but are revealed to the reader as the more powerful of the sexes. Authors reveal the power of women by their prowess at trickery or “women’s cunning” (The Thousand 1181), and their ability to force the actions of male counterparts. The reader can examine men’s attempt to stifle this power, which further acknowledges the women’s merit, through the excessively frequent occurring instances of men treating the women as insignificant, as well as instances when women are turned to ungulate animals, such

Women were traditionally seen as the weaker sex – second-class citizens with a lower social status than men. A woman’s place was in the home. Men did the “heavier” labor, like plowing and hunting.