Summarizing the Dark Side of the Arabian Nights
Jackson Smith
9/18/22
Summary #1: 250 Words Approx.
The stories that are told in “The Arabian Nights” are meant to depict children’s stories. However, this is not the case. There are several stories in the book that are not suited for children in the slightest. For example, there is a story about a prince who tells his life story to a sultan. He begins to describe how his wife turned the lower half of his body into stone. The prince’s wife had cheated on him with a slave. In outrage, the prince lunged at the slave in an attempt to kill him, but his wife, a sorceress, turned half of his body into stone before he could cause any damage. Several other stories depict similar both the graphic violence and the same racism as this story does. Slaves are included in each translation of the Arabian Nights, but certain authors seemed to glorify the aspects of racism and slavery in the stories. Prejudice against Israelites was also shown in the Nights with authors claiming that two princes were murdered by a Jewish community. Essentially, whichever author decided to translate the Arabian Nights, could depict any minority of people in any way they wanted via storytelling. For example, a French author, Richard Burton, has the King imitate blackamoor speech which depicted people of color as uneducated because of the way the King spoke. The original version of the Nights has little to none of the racist and sexist ideals included in the European version of the Nights.
Summary #2: 150 Words Exactly
The Arabian Nights, or more accurately The Thousand and One Nights, is a series of stories meant to fulfill the imaginations of the youth. Yes, the stories are packed with wonderful action, imagery, and plot. However, the translated versions of these stories are riddled with sexism, racism, and antisemitism- not to mention gory detail. As people(such as the French and British) discovered the stories of the two Kings, they wanted to make versions of their own. However, these stories have moments of heightened racism. Joseph Charles Mardrus, a French author, translated a French version of the Nights but made sure to include extra slaves in the story that served white people. The sexist aspects of the story include a King who attempts to murder his wife for cheating on him and antisemitic aspects include authors who believed in the ritualistic killing of Jewish people. These stories are not appropriate.
