"This book, which I have called The Thousand and One Nights, abounds also with splendid biographies that teach the reader to detect deception and to protect himself from it, as well as delight and divert him whenever he is burdened with the cares of life and the ills of this world." ~ The Arabian Nights
Puns aside, the importance of the frame story, or frame tale, in Arabian Nights is essential to appreciating the vast network of narrative layers as well as understanding the purpose of the beautiful tales that follow the frame story.
The Definition
According to the Oxford English Dictionary a "frame story" is "a story which serves as a framework within which a number of other stories are told," a concept which Shahrazad uses to its fullest. A good visual of this literary device can be found in the above pun: the stories are the "picture" of the "frame" tale, However, Shahrazad creates multiple levels of frames and stories by not only creating stories within the frame, created by an outside narrator, but also using stories within the frame as frames for other stories. In, creating these levels Shahrazad emphasizes the importance of her own frame tale using it to her advantage and creating a masterpiece of literary structure.
The Plot Points
- The frame is related in the "Prologue" through a third-person omniscient narrator who informs the reader of the time and place while introducing the main characters.
- Two brothers, Shahrayar and Shahzaman, reign in separate regions of the Sasanid Empire, and Shahrayar wishes to see his younger brother, Shahzaman. To summon his brother, Shahrayar sends his vizier, Jafar, who, as the narrator notes, has two daughters, the older, Shahrazad, and, the younger, Dinarzad.
- After receiving the invitation from Shahrayar, Shahzaman makes preparations for his journey, but, just before leaving, he discovers his wife sleeping with a slave. Shahrayar kills her in his anger then, in a woeful state, journeys to see his brother.
- Shahzaman's depression confuses Shahrayar who goes out hunting for 10 days, leaving Shahzaman in the palace.
- Shahzaman sees Sharayar's wife and 20 of her slaves having an orgy in the courtyard. Consequently, Shahzaman realizes that he is not alone in his troubles and becomes much more cheerful.
- Shahrayar wishes to the know the reason behind the change in his brother's attitude and presses him until he tells all. Shahrayar, too, witnesses the actions of his wife and her slaves and becomes so upset that he proposes that he and his brother travel until they find someone even less fortunate than themselves to lift their spirits.
- Both kings encounter a demon, who rises out of the sea, releases a woman from a glass box, and falls asleep with his head in her lap, all while the kings look on. The woman threatens them into having sex with her, cuckolding the demon while he sleeps.
- Afterwards, she tells the kings that she has slept with 100 men, showing them her purse full of their rings to prove it, The kings decide that no situation could possibly be more unfortunate and return to their own kingdoms.
- The frame story then focuses on Shahrayar who puts his wife to death and begins his revenge on women by marrying for a single night and killing the women in the morning. This practice continues until there are no more young women in the kingdom.
- Shahrazad, daughter of the vizier, offers herself to the king despite her father trying to dissuade her. She concocts a plan to distract, engage, and educate the king by artfully telling stories so he will let her live, saving the remainder of her sex.
The Importance
The frame tale not only provides useful context and information, but also prepares the reader for the types of narrative structures Shahrazad will use throughout her own stories. However, Shahrazad takes the frame tale to another level by using the stories she tells within the original frame to serve as frames for other stories. At times, she takes the stories to another level by using those stories as frames for yet another layer of narratives. The effect of this nesting and layering of stories is a growing feeling of suspense as well as a buying of time. Shahrazad realizes that however long it takes her to reach the bottom of the story is how long it will take her to reach the surface of the original frame, prolonging and preserving her own life for as long as possible.