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A review by donnaadouglas
Tales from the Thousand and One Nights by Unknown
4.0
A friend of mine, who claims to be a feminist, criticised this book as being anti-feminist and offensive to modern women. When I asked her to explain why, she told me that it shows women to be the reason for the downfall of men.
Having now read this book myself, I can say that I completely disagree with my friend. In fact, I would even go as far as saying that this book is pro-feminism. At it's heart is the story of a woman who wins a man's heart through her wit and intelligence - not through flaunting her body. Having said this, there are women in several of the stories who do lure men into compromising situations. However, these women are not shown in a positive light (nor should they be!), and at the same time the men are seen to be shallow, besotted fools; victims of their own bad judgement. Also, for every woman protrayed as a harlot in this book, there's a man portrayed as an evil sorceror or a jealous vizier. Men could be seen to be equally as 'villanous' as women in this book.
To me, the moral of these stories warns of avarice and envy. The villains of the stories were all victims of these, whilst the heroes were all rewarded for being content with their lot in life, but without forsaking ambition. A valid message to a contemporary audience? I'd certainly say so.
Having now read this book myself, I can say that I completely disagree with my friend. In fact, I would even go as far as saying that this book is pro-feminism. At it's heart is the story of a woman who wins a man's heart through her wit and intelligence - not through flaunting her body. Having said this, there are women in several of the stories who do lure men into compromising situations. However, these women are not shown in a positive light (nor should they be!), and at the same time the men are seen to be shallow, besotted fools; victims of their own bad judgement. Also, for every woman protrayed as a harlot in this book, there's a man portrayed as an evil sorceror or a jealous vizier. Men could be seen to be equally as 'villanous' as women in this book.
To me, the moral of these stories warns of avarice and envy. The villains of the stories were all victims of these, whilst the heroes were all rewarded for being content with their lot in life, but without forsaking ambition. A valid message to a contemporary audience? I'd certainly say so.