Although sex, immorality, and the scandalous actions of women are major themes in The Arabian Nights, there is an underlying theme of curiosity throughout the story. In the foreword it is explained that the purpose of the book was to provide "excellent lessons" and "opportunity to learn the art of discourse" (Page 185). It also serves to "teach the reader to detect deception and to protect himself from it, as well as delight and divert him whenever he is burdened with the cares of life and the ills of this world" (Page 185). The stories told throughout The Arabian Nights express how out of a man's curiosity he can bring forth an undesired or unplanned outcome. Curiosity changes the situation for several of the characters in the story leading them into most times unwanted situations. It sends a message to the reader that one shouldn't let their actions be guided by curiosity, but rather by the "Supreme God who is the True Guide" (Page 185).
The reader is first introduced to two kings, Shahrayar and Shahzaman, who are brothers both betrayed by their wives. Shahzaman mistakenly discovers his wife's infidelity just before going to visit his brother. He is in agony over the betrayal and loss. While Shahzaman is at Shahrayar's palace he mistakenly discovers that his brother's wife is having immoral sexual relationships with a slave man. Although curiosity did not play a part in Shahzaman's discovery of the two women's infidelity, Shahrayar's curiosity drove him to discover his wife's betrayal and to endure the great suffering caused by it. When Shahzaman refused to tell his brother about what he had seen his wife doing, Shahrayar insisted that he tell him:
Shahzaman replied, "King, I wish that for God's sake you wou...
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...merchant's story he is overwhelmed with curiosity and swears that he will stay with him to see what happens with him and the demon. They were motivated more by their curiosity than their fear of the demon. And finally, the demon himself is at least a little bit curious as he is willing to hear each man's strange and amazing story so that it might save the life of the merchant.
In The Arabian Nights, the curiosity of the characters, in many instances, changes the direction of their lives and causes them heartache. The actions of the characters in the stories can teach lessons to the readers to apply in their own lives. One can learn that curiosity should not be the driving force of his life. It sends a message to act cautiously when making choices instead of being driven by curiosity. Actions based on satisfying one's curiosity can cause an undesired outcome.
A person’s life is often a journey of study and learning from errors and mistakes made in the past. In both James Joyce’s Araby and John Updike’s A&P, the main characters, subjected to the events of their respective stories, are forced to reflect upon their actions which failed to accomplish their original goal in impressing another character. Evidently, there is a similar thematic element that emerges from incidents in both short stories, which show maturity as an arduous process of learning from failures and a loss of innocence. By analyzing the consequences of the interaction of each main character; the Narrator in Araby and Sammy in A&P; and their persons of infatuation, Mangan’s sister
...the future to see that his life is not ruined by acts of immaturity. And, in “Araby”, we encounter another young man facing a crisis of the spirit who attempts to find a very limiting connection between his religious and his physical and emotional passions. In all of these stories, we encounter boys in the cusp of burgeoning manhood. What we are left with, in each, is the understanding that even if they can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel, we can. These stories bind all of us together in their universal messages…youth is something we get over, eventually, and in our own ways, but we cannot help get over it.
This novel and film commentary analysis or interpretation will be first summarised and then critiqued. The summary will be divided into twenty- four episodes. While summarising it is well to remember that the film was made out of the book.
While “The Wish to Be a Red Indian” and “Rejection” are different in structure but similar in style, they convey the same desire for escape. The two vignette seem to belong in Franz Kafka’s “Meditation” because of they have this conception of escape. After all, to meditate is to escape the physical world in order to look within oneself. Entertainment in general, including the practice of reading novels for enjoyment, is a form of escapism that allows people to relieve themselves from the banal aspects of daily life.
The unnamed narrator states that he is not expecting anyone to believe the extraordinarily strange story that he is about to recount; however, he proceeds to lay out the events as he saw them. Further into the story the reader finds out exactly why the narrator is not to be trusted – he is an alcoholic. The narrator begins fighting his inner demons a...
As described in the novel, How to Read Literature Like a Professor, in literature every trip taken by a character is a quest. “The real reason for a quest never involves the stated reason. In fact, more often than not, the quester fails at the stated task” (Foster, 3). In “Araby”, the narrator travels to the bazaar for the sole purpose of impressing a girl by returning with a gift for her. Yet, the narrator leaves with a new realization instead of a present. “The real reason for a quest is always self-knowledge. That’s why questers are so often young, inexperienced, immature, sheltered” (Foster, 3). The quest allowed the narrator to come to a self realization about his foolish idealism. The narrator romanticized Mangan’s sister and the bazaar which led to his imminent
In the novel She and in the stories of The Arabian Nights, both Haggard and Haddawy explore the expanding gender roles of women within the nineteenth century. At a time that focused on the New Woman Question, traditional gender roles were shifted to produce greater rights and responsibilities for women. Both Ayesha, from Haggard’s novel She, and Shahrazad, from Haddawy’s translation of The Arabian Nights, transgress the traditional roles of women as they are being portrayed as strong and educated females, unwilling to yield to men’s commands. While She (Ayesha) takes her power to the extreme (i.e. embodying the femme fatale), Shahrazad offers a counterpart to She (i.e. she is strong yet selfless and concerned with the welfare of others). Thus, from the two characters emerge the idea of a woman who does not abide by the constraints of nineteenth century gender roles and, instead, symbolizes the New Woman.
At first, Sharon tries to see life from his perspective with his childhood background when he used to live in Tehran. When Al was young, “In this happy, balanced world, [he] was the neighbourhood marble king” (313). This passage is relevant because it shows how Al felt as a kid. Sharon tries to understand her husband’s dreams, fears and feelings through the way he was brought up in his natal country. By imagining him as a king, the narrator understands how Al has always felt like he deserved an important place in this world. Moreover, Sharon understands more Al’s need for power as he resembles Dickens a lot when it comes to love relationships. The two adulterous husbands are admired by their younger mistresses, as we can see with Shay’s image of Al: “she also assumed her inspiring supervisor, blessed in every aspect of life, must be happily married too” (168). This quote shows how both Nelly and Al’s mistresses were younger women who admired the two men, which is exactly what Al and Dickens must have been looking for in the affairs: a sense of power, importance. By giving Dickens his place in her story, Sharon is accepting that even in every great man, there is a portion of humanity. Finally, Al and the prince in the Arabian nights’ story told in the book share the same charming, confident, and arrogant traits. Sharon’s telling of “The
Romantic gestures have been seen as a useful motive to win hearts of women for centuries. However, as society constantly changes, the effectiveness of these chivalrous acts has diminished. In James Joyce’s “Araby” and John Updike’s “A&P”, this theory is explored, both telling the story of a boy whose efforts to impress the girl of their desires fail. As said by Well’s in his critical analysis of these stories, “Both the protagonists have come to realize that romantic gestures—in fact, that the whole chivalric view [sic] --- are, in modern times, counterproductive”. These stories, despite the differences between the two characters, clearly show that the character’s world is changing, with chivalry becoming more obsolete.
Norris, H.T. "The Arabian Nights: A Companion." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies 58 (1995):148-149.
When a person becomes trapped in a situation that stems from an individual with greater authority, being manipulative can be a very promising method to escape. The Thousand and One Nights does a very good job of being a good example of someone in this situation that uses stories within a story to capture encapsulate the attention of the reader. Despite the many little stories that go into the text, the main story behind it all is about a king named King Shahrayar and how he goes insane after catching his wife having sexual relations with a slave. After he sees this happen, he realizes that he can never trust any woman again and none of them are trustworthy. By expressing his views on women, he decides to marry a different woman every night, then the next morning have them killed by beheading. This is an ongoing event that brings death to most of the women in the village. Soon after, the king’s Vizier’s daughter, Shahrazad, came up with a brilliant idea that will end up saving her fellow countrywomen and hopefully keep the king from murdering so many innocent people. Her method behind all this is by telling the kind a different story every night that leaves him on a cliffhanger, making him curious enough to keep her alive for another day to continue her story. Shahrazad keeps herself spared from the king because of her cunning, and compassionate personality.
James Joyce’s “Araby” and the story of “A & P” by John Updike have many characteristic similarities as well as literary traits. These stories focus on a young man trying to learn the difference between the romantic fantasies that play in their mind and the bitterness that reality can bring to a young man. In both stories a young man has built an unrealistic expectation of women only to meet the tragic despair of being rejected by the object of their boyish fantasy. In both of these stories the authors choose to show that life is not always what it may always appear.
First romantic encounters by young boys are often wrought with many different emotions and illusions. In “Araby”, a portrayal of a young boy’s experience of romantic reality, the reader is witness to the narrator’s physical, emotional and chronological journey. The emotional reactions, anguish and anger, show the importance of the events in the young boy’s life. The deprecating word vanity is significant to the story’s theme, because while anguish and anger are emotional reactions, the admission of vanity is a severe moral judgment of oneself. Anguish is regarded as the key emotion in the young boy’s childhood. In James Joyce’s “Araby”, the exaggerated anguish of the narrator seems quite pretentious given the reality of his youthful perception.
Although “Araby” is a fairly short story, author James Joyce does a remarkable job of discussing some very deep issues within it. On the surface it appears to be a story of a boy's trip to the market to get a gift for the girl he has a crush on. Yet deeper down it is about a lonely boy who makes a pilgrimage to an eastern-styled bazaar in hopes that it will somehow alleviate his miserable life. James Joyce’s uses the boy in “Araby” to expose a story of isolation and lack of control. These themes of alienation and control are ultimately linked because it will be seen that the source of the boy's emotional distance is his lack of control over his life.
Soraya: Amir’s wife, a source of peace in his life but also an reminder of his past and the guilt that it holds (due to her own shaky past). Soraya is stable for Amir, a kind and intelligent