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Redefining the Past: Feminism and Fairy Tales

By Sammie Alexander, Helen Laraia, Eli Musih, Elaine Poulakos, and Amy Yi, Author

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Aladdin

Aladdin


Popularly known to western audiences as Arabian Nights, A Thousand and One Nights (Arabic as Alf laylah wa laylah) is a collection of short stories by different authors from diverse regions; spanning from Greece to India. Though initially communicated orally, the tales soon began to appear on manuscripts. This text is unique as it strings together many different tales into one core story. The basis of Arabian Nights is about King Shahryar who discovers his wife to be unfaithful and killed her. He then began a series of marring and killing a new woman every night. This continued until Shahrazad, the daughter of his vizier, decides to stop this by marring the King.  Shahrazad begins to tell Shahryar a tale but does not disclose the ending, making the King helpless but to keep her alive until the next night. This continues until he decides not to kill any more women (Encyclopedia Britannica Online 2013).  

Arabian NightsDue to the many places of origin and the number of tales, it is impossible to claim a particular author of these texts. In addition there have been many Arabic manuscripts that have appeared over time. They Syrian texts, though, are considered to be one of the oldest texts. For the purpose of this study this script was chosen due to its historical significance as well as it was the first text to be translated. This script was translated by Antoine Galland in 1701 as Les Mille et une nuits. It is important to note that given the historical context this text is less biased and therefore more appropriate for this research.

A unique aspect of this version of Arabian Nights is its inclusion of the tale of Aladdin. According to the text Aladdin is a Chinese boy who is tricked by an African magician to venture, with a charmed ring, into a cave and retrieve a magic lamp. Upon retrieving the lamp, Aladdin refuses to give it to the magician resulting in him being trapped in the cave. After discovering his new power to summon a genie, Aladdin is not only able to escape but marries the Sultan’s daughter and lives happily ever after.

This is very similar to Walt Disney’s 1992 version of Aladdin. Aladdin is shown as a peasant boy who also is sent into a cave to retrieve a magical lamp. Upon discovering he is able to summon a Jinn, Aladdin is hunted down by the evil grand vizier Jafar of Agrabah. The movie depicts Aladdin’s adventures as he escapes getting caught by Jafar. The movie ends with Aladdin and Jasmine, the sultans’ daughter, living happily ever after.  

Though meant for lighthearted entertainment and a younger audience, Disney’s Aladdin has sparked outcry. Many groups in the United States have spoken and work against many aspects of this film. The major concern presented by its critics has been its depiction of Middle Easters. They argue that the film shows Arabs as violent and uncivilized peoples and does not do justice to the culture (Richard 1993). It is important to note that Galland also received similar criticism for his translation of the original texts. Many argued that it did not accurately depict Middle Eastern culture.

The depiction of women in the different tales of Aladdin is interesting as one can begin to examine they lives of women during the times they were written. The original Arabian Nights tales mostly originate from pre-Islamic Arabia. Surprisingly many female practices found in modern Islamic culture continue those prior to the advent of Islam. The most prominent is the veiling of women. One can see shift from the veiled women to a seductive female character in Disney’s Aladdin. This shift in the depiction of women reflects the third wave of feminism at the time. During the 90s feminism saw a shift from focusing on intellectual beauty to physical beauty. It was common to see women expressing their bodies more than ever and female sexuality (Whelan 2012). Though most feminists today deem characters like Jasmine to be everything but a symbol for women, at the time depicting Jasmine in such a way did make a statement.


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