The prologue constructs the beginning of the story which leads to various tales of ancient stories that are enfolded. The day before King Shahzaman was getting ready to travel to visit his brother King Shahrayar he wanted to say goodbye to his wife. He found his wife lying in the arms of another man – a cook boy. He felt extremely betrayed and fooled and was so angry that his blood boiled leading him to the illusion/idea that “women are not to be trusted.” Besides this general idea of not trusting women, I found it ironic that the entire storyline revolves around a man or men. Whenever a woman was mentioned, it was either for a sexual desire or having some kind of relationship with a man. Even Shahrazad who was portrayed as a strong female figure was introduced to the storyline because she aimed to get King Shahrayar to stop killing the females he married. There is a lot of misogyny represented in the prologue which I found pretty shocking because usually women are viewed as “precious” in the Middle East and are not sexualized.
Another thing I noticed in the Prologue was how strong family is resembled and portrayed. Often families fight so it is very nice to see that regardless of how many fights the brothers get in, they always find a way to resolve their issues together and talk with each other. Also, the amount of praise given to God was very heartwarming to read. No matter a situation, the family would look upon God to get a blessing. For example, King Shahzaman forgot his grief and advanced his health after realizing that life carries its own misfortunes and distorted behaviors: God is the one who creates everyone’s plan. Each lesson introduced many lessons like this one making Arabian Nights a unique prose narrative. It makes the story compelling and leaves the reader wanting more of the story.
