Analysis of Arabian Nights
ARABIAN NIGHTS SYNOPSIS In Baghdad there was a Sultan named Shahryar who had gone mad because he accidentally killed his wife who was unfaithful to him for he had an affair with the Sultan’s brother, Schahzenan. He gone mad because he thought that every women wanted to kill him and for that he requests to bring a harem girl to marry and be killed the next day. A clever woman named Scheherazade decide to marry the Sultan in order to prevent his madness. With the help of a storyteller she tells the him a story every night and stopping every dawn with a cliffhanger and refuse to continue until its night time again.
This prevents the Sultan to kill Scheherazade and the stories she was telling has lessons and will cure the madness of the Sultan. The stories she had told were Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, The Tale of the Poor Hunchback, Aladdin and the Magic Lamp, The Sultan and the Beggar and The Three Princes. When Schahzenan heard about the Sultan’s madness and thought of it as his weakness, he took advantage of it. He formed an army to battle with him in getting the throne but he failed because Sultan Shahryar was cured by Scheherazade with her stories.
The Sultan fell in love with her and because of the morals of her stories they defeated the army. At the end, Scheherazade was telling the whole story to her children. ANALYSIS 1. Give three traditional, cultural and customary practices shown in the movie. Explain its significance. A. The remarriage of the Sultan after the death of his wife or to pass the throne to a sibling. This can be considered a tradition because this practice has been done a long time ago. Almost all royal families do this. This is an important tradition because this speaks of loyalty and sincerity of the king or the sultan to his position.
Marrying again shows that he is dedicated to his position that he does not let his emotions conquer him. That even he is grieving to the death of his former wife; he doesn’t mind it because what more important is his people and not his own self and own happiness. He is not willing to give up the throne because he knew it might affect his people and their daily lives. When the leader changes, adjustment of the people becomes difficult. Many would not agree and many will be against it. A good leader knows this well that is why he gives good decisions. B. The performance of an exotic dance to celebrate a victory.
This is a cultural practice for this shows the culture of a certain group. In the movie, in the part about Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, Morgiana, the love of Ali Baba performed a dance in celebration of their victory. It is a victory for defeating the enemies. This is significant because this presents the true picture of a group. It shows what the group is, what do they do and how they make-known their culture. It is therefore important because this will be the way that they can be recognized and appreciated. That they can show to all that they also possess a rich culture.
In just a simple dance number, every movement, the music, the steps, the costume and the emotions talks about something, it talks about a story which is about them and their tradition. C. The offering of a dowry in asking a princess for marriage. This is a very known practice ever since for in ancient stories every man who wants to marry should offer something special and costly to the woman and the family. This is also considered important because this shows respect and assurance to the future of the couple. This just represent that the family of the woman can be at peace that they can give their child to a trustworthy man.
And this is also important because this gives a man the opportunity to present himself and prove to be a gentleman. 2. Give three to five representations of human character and how these human nature shown in the movie. A. Courageous Courage is the ability to face difficulty and this trait is possessed by Scheherazade. She was willing to risk her life just to save her fellow women from the mad Sultan. Even she was a little nervous of what she had decided, she face the challenge with great courage and bravery, letting her fate decide what will happen to her as long as she pursue her plan.
B. Wise This trait is possessed by Aladdin when he snatched the lamp from Mustappa. He used his skills and took it as an opportunity to bring back the lamp to his owner, himself. Even pick-pocketing is a bad habit, he still used it in a useful and good reason. He did it because he knew, Mustappa has evil plans for it. C. Oppurtunistic This negative trait is possessed by Sultan Harun Al-Rashid when he always plays a prank with the beggar, Amin. He took advantage of Amin because he thinks he is weak and that he could have fun using him.
But at the end, because of his bad trait, he faced his consequence and that is to be killed by the person he belittled before. D. Loving This is presented by the three princes, they showed how much they love their father even at first, they always compete and quarrel. Even they always do this, their reason is always, they love their father and they will do anything for him. When they were requested to bring back a special thing to their father, they exerted effort and time just to have it. And also because of the love they have for their parent, the three of them learn to rule the kingdom with peace and harmony.
E. Pessimistic Sultan Shahryar is pessimistic. This was shown when he was betrayed by his wife. Because of this experience, he blinded himself that all women are trying to kill him. He generalize that women has bad intentions against him. He did not try to see the brighter side of life, that what had happened to him has a purpose and reason, instead he let himself sink to his emotions and this had conquered his mind that is why he became mad. 3. Give three universal truths drawn from the movie and its application to personal experience. A. No man is an island.
Even if how strong a person is, how brave he is and how unbreakable he is, he might not admit it, but he still needs a shoulder and a hand for support. I am not this kind of person but I think this is one lesson that might get from the story. I observe this with others, who shows the world they do not need help but when problems come they hopelessly aiming for it. Nobody survives alone, everyone needs somebody because as I can see, you cannot talk, cry, laugh and tap yourself. It’s much better to see someone who are happy when you are happy and wipes your tears when in pain.
For short, it’s best when you have true friends. B. People who do bad things suffer the consequence of their action in the end. I always believe in this line because every action done has a corresponding consequence, may it be good or bad, it always depends on the former action. In my experience, what I did was, I didn’t ask permission that I’ll accompany my cousin at the park. We went there and played in “monkey bars”. Unfortunately, I fell and broke my bone in the arm. And I really put this lesson in my mind. I also saw this in people who engaged in bad activities like pick-pocketing.
They might benefit in that act but the so called karma, it might not strike them, instead their loved ones suffer for them. C. Everything happens for a purpose. This lesson may be applied in every situation and in any kinds of problems. Whatever happens, there is always a reason, we may not see it easily but as time passes by, we tend to realize why it had happened. Many problems come and sometimes we fail, but we should be open minded and realize that bad things happen because it will be exchanged with much of happiness. BEST PART OF THE MOVIE
For me, the best part of the movie is when Scheherazade conducted her plan to save the women and to rescue the Sultan from madness. In the time that she told the Sultan stories in order for him to heal. I like this because it showed “girl-power”. It showed that even a long time ago, women had also out win men. That in a simple act, she had changed a very big thing. In this part, it showed that women are wise and courageous. I am very pleased and as I see it, I can’t resist feeling very proud of her and us, her fellow women. It showed that we can also be strong, that we can also stand and conquer something.
It can be respect, power and appreciation of others. It’s brings me to an inspiration that I can also be like her, to have the courage to face difficulties. RECOMMENDATIONS 1. When watching the movie, the viewer should listen and take notes of the lines being uttered by the characters. This is because, these lines give inspiring thought to its viewers and it can be applied to some situations in each lives. 2. When watching, try to see yourself in the situation or in the characters because there is reality in their every action. There is truth in what they are doing because it can happen in a person in certainty.
