"Just remember what Satan says: 'I teach men what I learn from women!"'
This quotation represents an attitude continually offered by the male characters of their female counterparts. In fact this is a cultural statement which holds true under a historical analysis. The Arab idea of women is that they possess the negative, mysterious, unpredictable elements of human psychology. It makes sense, then, that the serpent figure -- Satan -- attributes his power of men to that of tantra -- the invitation and manipulation of the female to the male.
"I'd like every single Arab to read One Thousand and One Nights. They [would] learn a lot from them, especially [because] these stories were written away from the influence of religion. It's interesting to see how we were open, how we had a dialogue with each other, how we wanted to understand, how we respected each other. There was a great dignity, and I'd like this to be restored again."
al-Shaykh sees a lost ethic in these old stories which he describes as "dignity." Apart from religious prescritivism, the people constructed a society which treated ideas on their merit rather than their appeal or cohesion to pre-existing systems. There was a type of openness which existed between people, each looking for the newness which the other may possess without knowing it.
"I, Shahrayar, shall each night marry a virgin, kissed only by her mother. I shall kill her the following morning and thereby protect myself from the cunning and deceit of women, for there is not a single chaste woman on the face of this earth!"
This is the classic story of Shahrazad. In order to potentially outwit the trap of sustained intimate relationship, the king declares that he will marry a new virgin every night. His idea is a testament to the pure domination by the ego. The king desires to own people and their intimacy, so he devises an extreme plot to accomplish this in a manner befitting the opulence and boredom of a king. At once he displays power and cruelty and insecurity.
"Is it possible that our subjects are slain in Baghdad and thrown into the river beneath our very eyes? I want you to find her killer. I want to avenge this girl. How else can I stand before my God and Creator on judgment day?"
Shahrayar's rival, Haroun Al-Rashid exhibits the human qualities long defunct in Shahrayar's character. He offers his subjects compassion and empathy, focusing on the experience of the emotions. His version of justice consists of the service of the subjects by the king, by which method he achieves a clear conscience and a unified peace throughout his kingdom.
