There in no definite author of The Thousand and One Nights. Historians believe that the different stories in this Arabic literature were a composite of different oral tales in Middle Persia called the “thousand stories” that had been translated or adapted from Sanskrit in the time of the Sassanids (Mack, Thousand and One). It is now accepted by historical experts that the story’s origins are from many different oriental cultures in countries including India, China, Syria, and Egypt. Evidence of this assertion can be validated in comparing the story’s prologue with literature in the mentioned cultures. The genre of The Thousand and One Nights is a narrative set in India, Indochina, and Samarkand during the Sasanid Dynasty from 226 to 652 A.D. (Mack, Thousand and One).
The actual and fictive setting of The Thousand and One Nights is important when trying to understand the culture and ideologies of the ancient Arabic world. Throughout the story, our protagonist Shahrazad reveals the cultures and ideologies through the stories she tells King Sharahrayar. An illustration of this is given in the numerous mentions of sorcery and mythical creatures throughout her tales. This belief in the workings of magical powers and mythical creatures give our readers a better understanding of the mindset of the inhabitants of the Arabic cultures.
Three subjects discussed in this story were despair, the nature of evil, and retribution. The problems that were encountered with these subjects were the proper procedure for handling each. Despair; exemplified throughout the story was a feeling experienced by all protagonist of each frame story including King Sharahrayar and his brother. Under despair, both men surrendered to their emotion of rage killing those who caused them grief. The author used the literary elements of imagery and dialogue to express the feelings of the characters burdened by this heavy emotion. An example given in the book is when the brother of...