One of the other stories identified by the critical text of Karen Rowe was a story which was central to the collection in The Arabian Nights. I remember reading this story and then including it in one of my papers which I took in a previous English class with Louisiana Tech. This is the story of King Shahryar and Scheherazade, the latter of which is a storyteller. This is in line with Keat’s critical essay’s title “To Spin a Yarn” (393). My thought was that just like with my paper many women in these stories use their sexuality to control men or the unsatisfactory situation they find themselves in.
Many of the examples in The Arabian Nights show women who are leaving their husbands cuckold. This is done mostly in secret, controlling the sexuality because they may not be in control of other aspects of their relationships. Of course, King Shahryar comes up with a foolproof plan for this not to happen to him after he catches his wife cheating on him. He pledges to take a new wife every day and have them killed the morning after, in this, he feels as if his problem is solved.
Scheherazade is different in her approach to the king. She tells him what seems like a never-ending tale with interconnecting sub stories which seem to leave the listener with a cliff hanger each night. By doing this, she is keeping the king interested enough to keep her alive. Just as the text says “But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence, leaving the king all curiosity for the rest of the story” (Puchner 1761) She is controlling the king through a different method, appealing to his mind instead of his body. In the king’s state, it seems that it is the mind which needs soothing.
In both Lanval and The Wife of Bath’s Tale, we see women controlling the situation. In Lanval the fairy charms Lanval with her sexuality and her riches. The queen attempts to do the same to Lanval but is rejected. Because of this, the queen tries to control the situation in another way, by using her husband King Arthur who she is in fact in controlling. Fight for your wife’s honor King Arthur. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale Gwenevere is in control again, but this time of the rapist knight’s destiny. In the end, it seems as if the old women who he courts is the one who is really in control and ends up saving the knight in exchange for his hand in marriage.
Puchner, Martin., editor. “The Thousand and One Nights (Alf Layla Wa-Layla).”The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, translated by Husain Haddawy, 9th ed., W.W Norton and Company, 2014, pp. 1743-1795.
Tatar, Maria., editor. “To Spin a Yarn.” The Classic Fairytales, 3rd ed., W.W Norton and Company, 2017, pp. 393-404.
Many of the examples in The Arabian Nights show women who are leaving their husbands cuckold. This is done mostly in secret, controlling the sexuality because they may not be in control of other aspects of their relationships. Of course, King Shahryar comes up with a foolproof plan for this not to happen to him after he catches his wife cheating on him. He pledges to take a new wife every day and have them killed the morning after, in this, he feels as if his problem is solved.
Scheherazade is different in her approach to the king. She tells him what seems like a never-ending tale with interconnecting sub stories which seem to leave the listener with a cliff hanger each night. By doing this, she is keeping the king interested enough to keep her alive. Just as the text says “But morning overtook Shahrazad, and she lapsed into silence, leaving the king all curiosity for the rest of the story” (Puchner 1761) She is controlling the king through a different method, appealing to his mind instead of his body. In the king’s state, it seems that it is the mind which needs soothing.
In both Lanval and The Wife of Bath’s Tale, we see women controlling the situation. In Lanval the fairy charms Lanval with her sexuality and her riches. The queen attempts to do the same to Lanval but is rejected. Because of this, the queen tries to control the situation in another way, by using her husband King Arthur who she is in fact in controlling. Fight for your wife’s honor King Arthur. In The Wife of Bath’s Tale Gwenevere is in control again, but this time of the rapist knight’s destiny. In the end, it seems as if the old women who he courts is the one who is really in control and ends up saving the knight in exchange for his hand in marriage.
Works Cited
Puchner, Martin., editor. “The Thousand and One Nights (Alf Layla Wa-Layla).”The Norton Anthology of Western Literature, translated by Husain Haddawy, 9th ed., W.W Norton and Company, 2014, pp. 1743-1795.
Tatar, Maria., editor. “To Spin a Yarn.” The Classic Fairytales, 3rd ed., W.W Norton and Company, 2017, pp. 393-404.
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