Abstract This paper looks at why "The ArabianNights" story has remained famous and popular as a significant work in Arab literature. It examines the universal and positive appeal of the tales, their influence in Western literature and specific writers influenced by the ArabianNights.
From the Paper ""Alf Layla wa Layla" translated as "A Thousand Nights" and also known as "An Arabian Night's Entertainments" has had a remarkable history equal to that of the characters in its tales. Some scholars surmise that these tales originated over years ago in ..."
Tags: Alf Layla wa Layla, ArabianNights, A Thousand and One Nights
Abstract Historians have always looked to literature for insight into how a culture functioned, what it valued, and how its people lived. Today, when studying the Middle East, many would not only read the Qu"ran, but also "The ArabianNights", the folklore. The paper shows that when we read "ArabianNights" we understand a great deal more of how the Arabic people actually lived. Perhaps the most evident discrepancy between the teachings of the Qu"ran and the "ArabianNights" tales pertains to the view and treatment of Middle Eastern women.
From the Paper "This method of seclusion is dramatically illustrated in The Arabian Nights where we hear the story of the demon that locked his wife in a chest and carried her about as if she were his private property. Yet ironically the authors of the Arabian Nights convey in this same story that not even this extreme could prevent a willful woman from knowing other men."
Abstract The paper shows how the fundamental structure of "The ArabianNights" by Sir Richard Francis Burton, consists of frame texts, or stories within stories, with "The Story of King Shahrayar and Shahrazad" as the outermost tale. The stories possess common didactic lessons, or morals, that connect them to one another. The paper examines how the morals are not often initially stated but rather revealed or re-emphasized from one tale to another, and they all possess a common feature that relate them back to the outermost tale?"The Story of King Shahrayar and Shahrazad". The paper shows that the organizing guidelines of the fables in The ArabianNights are the particular moral, or lesson, they each portray.
From the Paper "The Tale of the Fisherman and the Demon divulges into The Tale of the Enchanted King. This tale, like The Tale of the King's Son and the She-Ghoul, displays the consequences of returning good with good. The king saves the enchanted king from spending his life as half man, half stone and gains his companionship as a result. Even more importantly, the tale connect back to the The Story of the Fisherman and the Demon because the fisherman "was the cause of saving the young man and the city" (66). The moral, therefore, is not only re-emphasized but connected with the previous tales."
Abstract This paper discusses the story of Uns-El-Wujood and El-Ward Fi-L-Akm"m from "ArabianNights" (anonymous), a tale of love, separation and reunion. The author believes that desire and longing create immense physical suffering for El-Ward Fi-L-Akm"m and Uns-El-Wujood as if they are not in control of their minds or their bodies once they fall in love and are thwarted from fulfilling their affair. The paper remarks that desire functions in a dual role of poison and cure throughout Chapter 18 of "ArabianNights".
From the Paper "As the poison of desire sets into his soul and his body, Uns-El-Wujood describes his affliction in explicitly physical terms. He is obviously depressed, but he feels his depression in his body as well as his mind. First, he cries so much that his eyes become sore. Uns-El-Wujood reiterates his having this symptom throughout the story, as weeping is one of the most constant and consistent side effects of unfulfilled desire. ?When my tears flow, I say, my eye is sore,? (p. 197). As soon as Uns-El-Wujood discovers that his beloved has been wrested from him, his tears flow freely. ?My eyelids are sore from continual weeping,? he moans as he searches for his beloved throughout the desert. Moreover, along the way, he creates even more physical pain and tension in his body by being unable to eat, drink, or sleep. The harshness of the landscape, the long duration of his journey, and his depression cause him to waste away. Desire, by forcing him to follow the trail of El-Ward Fi-L-Akm"m, creates the conditions for starvation and further physical deprivation. This is depression's secondary action on the physical body. Both Uns-El-Wujood and El-Ward Fi-L-Akm"m translate their mental and emotional pain into acute and authentic physical suffering. ?Often are our bodies afflicted by our passion,? El-Ward Fi-L-Akm?m writes to her lover on the eve of their separation."
Abstract This paper compares and contrasts the two ancient and classical stories of "Ramayana," attributed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and "1001 ArabianNights," which is a collection of stories collected over many centuries by various authors, translators and scholars in various countries. The paper specifically compares the characters within the stories and the lessons of morality that they teach.
Table of Contents:
Purity and Deceit in Ramayana
Purity and Deceit in 1001 ArabianNights
From the Paper "Eventually there are no more virgins and Scheherazade offers herself as the next bride. In order to keep his daughter alive, Scheherazade's father tells Shahryar a story without telling him the conclusion. In order to hear the end, Shahryar must keep Scheherazade alive. The next, Scheherazade finishes the last tale and begins another, only again to stop short of revealing its conclusion. Thus, the 1001 stories of the book are told. Although each of these stories involve their own tales of morals, purity and deceit, in an effort to teach Scheherazade a lesson, this act of telling stories itself is deceitful in that it is done as a method of tricking Scheherazade. However, this act of deceit, like the act of deceit done by Brahman in creating Rama to defeat evil, this act of deceit is also done for the greater good."
Abstract This paper discusses the stories of "ArabianNights". The writer illustrates how the stories within the main story are told with the purpose of teaching lessons about life in the Islamic culture and religion.
From the Paper "The stories of "Arabian Nights" vary as much as the lands they originate from. However, all the stories have a spiritual message and a message about values during life. The stories talk about life and how to live it, based on the Islamic culture and religion. Each story gives the reader a vivid image of life in Islamic culture."
Abstract This paper examines how the notion of telling a story of deception that reflects one's current situation seems counter-intuitive due to the possibility that, in telling the story, the deceived may become aware of the secret intention. It uses as an example ?The ArabianNights? and examines how Shahrazad's life depends on every story she narrates, on both a momentary and permanent levels. It shows how a series of entertaining stories may allow Shahrazad to delay her execution, but never eliminate its certainty. To live, Shahrazad strives to reform King Shahrayar's view of women as unfaithful, and she accomplishes this endeavor by means of suggesting that anger renders irrational conclusions, like those of the caliph, and multiple repetition of this theme serve only to further propound the message.
From the Paper "The caliph prematurely assumes that his vizier's incompetence in governing the kingdom directly or indirectly causes the young woman's murder. As previously stated, coincidence indirectly causes the girl's death. With that in mind, the young man's story exposes the vizier's innocence. Within that frame, the son's story reveals the mother's innocence. The importance of such situational repetition conveys the theme that Shahrazad aims to suggest, that solutions derived without reason or logic may never be adequate. This implication indicates a high degree of courage on Shahrazad's part. Effectively, in correlating this theme to King Shahrayar's life, she accuses the king of being wrong. The insinuation that a "king of the world" (11) is wrong seemingly harms Shahrazad's reformation of the king based considering that despots usually do not tolerate contradiction."
Abstract The paper reveals that, although "The ArabianNights" and "The Divine Comedy" pertain to very different cultures and are nurtured by different religious beliefs, the essence of the moral lesson they teach is similar. The paper illustrates how both literary texts represent virtue as being closely linked with the force of love as the most important moral value for man.
From the Paper "The Arabian Nights are one of the most significant and majestic works of the Islamic culture. Its unforgettable stories and its exotic, fantastic scenery form one of the most enduring literary monuments. Moreover, the work is replete with moral lessons and important spiritual illumination. In the fabulous universe of the Arabian Nights everything seems possible and the great creator of the world fills the world with his bounty. The richness of the text and its extremely symbolic structure offer a wealth of interpretations. Storytelling itself is one of the ways in which virtue and moral truth are taught in the book. It is not therefore accidental that the narrative has a symbolic form and that it is divided according to the number of nights in which Scheherazade tells her stories to the king."
Abstract The paper looks closely at the subject of marital infidelity through the sources of Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and the stories of "The ArabianNights." The paper explains that both of these tales involve marital infidelity. The paper first addresses "Madame Bovary," and Emma's character as well as her affairs and then moves on to address the conflict in "The ArabianNights."
From the Paper "Marital infidelity has often, in literature, been shown to be a destructive force upon the families and peoples who have come into contact with it. Two works which include the subject matter of marital infidelity are Gustave Flaubert's "Madame Bovary" and the tales of "The Arabian Nights." These two works are both centered on these themes, but achieve their central messages through different means. "Madame Bovary" illustrates the destructiveness that accompanies sexual misconduct within marriage, while "The Arabian Nights" illustrates instead that healing can stem after this misconduct has been completed. It is notable, that in both works, it is the affairs of women which drive the plot, not those of men."
An examination of the themes of chastity and heroism in three Asian stories: "The Red Lotus of Chastity", "One Thousand and One ArabianNights" and "Shahname."
Abstract This paper looks at three Asian "The Red Lotus of Chastity", "One Thousand and One ArabianNights" and "Shahname" and focuses on the struggles of the central female character in each story.
Abstract The purpose of this study was to research and study why we have nightmares, night terrors, and how lucid dreaming can help us understand them. By studying nightmares and terrors, we can figure out the cause and pinpoint the problem and resolve it so that we can have a good night sleep.
Abstract In this paper, the use of disguise in Twelfth Night and King Lear are similar in their usage of various behaviors, costumes, and gender roles that are exchanged to discover the real truth through hidden identity. The paper discusses The Earl of Kent's use of disguise of Caius; contrasting with elements of disguise in Twelfth Night that offer a comedic gender role reversal for the men and women involved in love intrigue.
From the Paper "In this drama study one can compare and contrast the various uses of disguise that arise within Shakespeare's Twelfth Night and King Lear. By realizing the depth and scope of romantic love within the comedic Twelfth Night, Shakespeare intertwines various aspects of relationships that are disguised through gender roles. In contrast to Shakespeare's comedies, King Lear offers a tragic point of view through disguise, which involves the role of power and leadership, which drives King Lear to madness. In essence, by comparing and contrasting the theme of disguise in both tragedy and comedy, one can evaluate how Shakespeare enacts these crucial factors within a textual analysis."
Abstract This paper discusses how "Acquainted with the Night" describes the persona's confrontation with 'the long, dark night of the soul', in which he stands alone in a universe that is bereft of any overarching divine meaning or even a mundanely constructed order or morality. It discusses how, far from engendering a sense of hopelessness, the indifferent ambiguity of the universe motivates the narrator's exploration of his own nature, displaying the curiosity that is the birthright of humanity.
From the Paper "The opening stanza of the poem consists of three declarative sentences that describe the persona's ambiguous relationship with the night, as well as suggesting the commencement of a journey. By stating that "I have been one acquainted with the night" (Frost, l.1), the narrator immediately removes himself from objective time and begins to describe a relationship located in neither the past nor present, but rather a subjective temporality that is akin to the dream-state of semi-consciousness. The repetition of the personal pronoun 'I' emphasizes that he is alone in his wandering and that this is an exploration of the self and its relationship to the outer world. "
Abstract This paper presents a review of "Night" by Elie Wiesel. The paper outlines the stages of the author's descent into the Holocaust. The stages are clearly defined in this story.
Abstract The purpose of this paper is to understand what Shakespeare meant by the title "A Midsummer Night's Dream" following the clues in key speeches. It also looks at the theme of the title, midsummer madness and supernatural elements.
From the Paper "The themes embodied in Shakespeare's comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream recall the line that questions whether all that we see or seem is merely a dream within a dream. Unlike his other plays the title of Shakespeare's fantastic..."
