Feminism in a general sense is a movement that promotes equality for women in all aspects of life. In the Islamic faith, feminism has a slightly different modified meaning. Islamic feminism advocates the same attitude, but bases it on slightly different beliefs, making the outcome somewhat different. The Arabian Nights, particularly in the Arabian Nights storyline, expresses an overall message of feminism. The book begins with a possibly misogynistic point of view, with a prejudice against women, so the message of feminism can be difficult to understand. Although misogyny is prevalent in the early stories, it plays a crucial role in expressing the feminist viewpoints described throughout the book. Shahrazade tells many stories throughout the book that all together promote this feminist theme. Another story that portrays the ideals of Islamic feminism is the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves. Although Morgiana, a slave, is the heroine of the story, she is not given credit for being identified as the protagonist of the piece. The early tales in both the plot and the story of Ali Baba are told through a somewhat misogynistic lens, but the progression of the tales leads to an overall picture of feminist ideas represented through the actions of both Shahrazade and Morgiana. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Frame's story, The Arabian Nights, is significant in expressing this feminist view of women throughout the book, although this is certainly not clear towards the beginning of the story. The plot opens with two brothers, rulers of their respective lands, who have both been betrayed. After Shahrayar, one of the brothers who has been betrayed, discovers that his queen has betrayed him, he says "'take that wife of mine and put her to death'" (Arabian Nights 12), ordering the vizier to kill her. With this he makes the decision to then marry a new wife every day, with the intention of killing her the next morning. "Shahrayar sat on his throne and ordered the vizier... to find him a wife from among the prince's daughters." (Arabian Nights 12) Such an absurd and unnecessary violation of respect for women clearly portrays the misogynistic sentiment at the beginning of the book. This will change as the book progresses and will actually play a role in the final feminist representation of women. Sharyar carries on with this horrible practice for some time until his vizier's daughter, Shahrazade, decides to step forward and at least make an attempt to stop him. Shahrazade is said to be an "intelligent, knowledgeable, wise and refined" individual, who has "read the books of literature, philosophy and medicine" and "knew poetry by heart, had studied historical accounts and knew the sayings of men and sayings of sages and kings.” (Arabian Nights 13) Although her father had a strong objection, Shahrazade thought she could be the one to stop him, so she intervened and volunteered to be his next wife. she would tell a story every night, interrupting just when the king's curiosity was at its peak, so the king would let her live just one more day, so she could continue with her stories. The morning after the first night,. Shahrazade “fell into silence, leaving King Shahrayar burning with curiosity to hear the rest of the story.” (Arabian Nights 19) Night after night, Shahrayar lets Shahrazade off the hook for just one more night. express the feminist perspective of the stories. Although Shahrazade's early stories show women in a bad light, it is only allopurpose of manipulating the king. Shahrazade demonstrates that, even as a woman in a difficult position, she is able to outsmart the powerful King Shahrayar. The fact that Shahrazade is considered to be a cultured and intelligent individual, as well as being able to outsmart and manipulate the king, plays an important role in creating the basis for an overall positive perspective on the women depicted in the book. The initial impression of the story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves suggests that Ali Baba will be the character of most significance, because his name is in the title of the story. He is credited with being associated with the Forty Thieves, although the thieves want to destroy his life and wealth, while Morgiana ends up saving Ali Baba by manipulating the thieves and taking matters into her own hands by creating jars of oil, and thus managing to do it. make sure that the whole situation does not have major negative consequences on their city. Morgiana is characterized as a slave before her talents and intelligence are introduced into the piece. This is seen in the fact that Kasim has a "...clever slave, Morgiana" (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 775). Unlike the male characters in the story, Morgiana is intelligent. This can be seen in Morgiana's drawing to confuse thieves as to which doors they marked and did not mark as already robbed, «But Morgiana saw the sign, suspected the danger and marked all the other doors in the neighborhood, so much so that when the forty arrived they were perplexed» (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 775). His ability to manipulate and confuse men is seen in his being the character who ends up being the one who saves Ali Baba's life as well as the wealth of others in the city. Morgiana is not seen as the protagonist or hero figure of the story; Ali Baba, although he is the one being saved, is not saving. Traditional Islamic values ​​can be seen in the display of feminism in this story because, although Morgiana has her moments where she is the heroine, these are lost towards the end of the story, where the reward given to her is the "reward "to become a woman. wife. This is seen in the mention of “…when she revealed the guest's dagger he thanked her; her nephew married her…” (Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves 780). Even though she is not given full respect and recognition for the things she did to save the city from thieves and Ali Baba from his death, Morgiana's character is portrayed positively, just as Shahrazade is portrayed positively in the film plot of The Arabian Nights. The representation of Shahrazade as a female figure of influence, knowledge, and successful transmission of stories, allows the reader to connect her presence to an overall presence of feminism in The Arabian Nights; a prevalent theme also in the characterization of Morgiana in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves as a female figure depicting a hero. Both Shahrazade and Morgiana are not the main figures in their narratives, which supports the idea that in Islamic feminism women are still subject to being seen as submissive, seen as second to the men with whom they are associated. Both Shahrazade and Morgiana manage to show the readers of their stories that, although they are women, they can overcome the stereotype of needing a man to help them reach the level of becoming a heroine of some kind. Shahrazade can be seen as a heroine in her successful delivery of the Arabian Nights plot due to her ability to succeed in making Shahrayar continue to delay the murder of another woman (herself), giving her power. Morgiana can also be seen as an empowered figure due to Ali Baba's survival and the city's ability to escape further robberies, all of which would not have been possible without her idea.