The roles of women in The Thousand and One Nights are especially interesting because they are treated very differently in numerous circumstances. On the one hand, they are shown to be completely powerless, and then on the other hand, some women are depicted to have absolute control. Throughout the early part of the story, the status of women seems to jump from their brutal and wicked treatment by men, to their passionate ability to fight back, and finally to the point where they are revealed as almost heroic.

I found it very brutal and unreasonable how the women characters in these stories are treated. Even the very first major event in the piece of literature has to do with King Shahzaman slaying his wife after he has seen how his wife had betrayed him. "As his anger boiled, he drew his...