Arabian Nights

IGCSE English Anthology

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Arabian Nights
The main frame story concerns a Persian king
and his new bride. The king, Schahriar, upon
discovering his wife's infidelity has her executed
and then declares all women to be unfaithful.
He begins to marry a succession of virgins only
to execute each one the next morning.
Eventually the vizier cannot find any more
virgins. Scheherazade, the vizier's daughter,
offers herself as the next bride and her father
reluctantly agrees.
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Arabian Nights
On the night of their marriage, Scheherazade begins
to tell the king a tale, but does not end it. The king is
thus forced to postpone her execution in order to
hear the conclusion. The next night, as soon as she
finishes the tale, she begins (and only begins) a new
one, and the king, eager to hear the conclusion,
postpones her execution once again. So it goes on for
1,001 nights.
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One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of
Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk
tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic
Golden Age. It is often known in English as the
Arabian Nights.
The work was collected over many centuries by
various authors, translators and scholars across
the Middle East, Central Asia and North Africa.
The tales themselves trace their roots back to
ancient and medieval Arabic, Persian, Indian,
Turkish, Egyptian and Mesopotamian folklore
and literature.

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The different versions have
different individually detailed
endings (in some
Scheherazade asks for a
pardon, in some the king sees
their children and decides not
to execute his wife, in some
other things happen that
make the king distracted) but
they all end with the king
giving his wife a pardon and
sparing her life.
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Frame narration
What is common throughout all the editions
of the Nights:
Shahryr - meaning "king" or "sovereign
His wife Scheherazade - possibly meaning "of
noble lineage
The framing device incorporated throughout
the tales themselves. The stories proceed
from this original tale; some are framed within
other tales, while others begin and end of
their own accord.
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Some editions contain only a few hundred
nights, while others include 1001 or more.
Some of the stories of The Nights, particularly
"Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp", "Ali Baba and
the Forty Thieves" and "The Seven Voyages of
Sinbad the Sailor", while almost certainly
genuine Middle-Eastern folk tales, were not
part of The Nights in Arabic versions - but
were interpolated into the collection by
European translators.


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Frame Story
This is basically a story within a
story.

Within which, one or more
tales are related.
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Homework
Write a list of the roles of women and girls in
literature.
Come up with examples from books you have
read or films you have watched.
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