Shahrayar Character Analysis in The Arabian Nights

Previous Next

Although the myriad stories in The Arabian Nights each have their own protagonists, antagonists, heroes, heroines, and foils, King Shahrayar is at the heart of the entire collection and motivates all the storytelling. In the Prologue, Shahrayar and his brother, Shahzaman, both discover that their wives are adulteresses. They go off on a journey to see if they can find a man more unfortunate than they are, and when they do, they return home. Shahrayar returns with vengeance in his heart. He orders his vizier to kill his wife and every one of his slave-girls because he hates all women and believes that there is not a single chaste woman in the world. To save himself from this wickedness, Shahrayar decides he will marry a new woman every day and have her killed the morning after. It is hard to imagine being this consumed by rage and revenge, but this is the action that initiates these tales. It is hard to imagine that such a hatred could ever be soothed, but eventually it is. The text tells us that Shahrayar repeats this heinous act until all the girls are killed and all the parents have cursed him.

One day, Shahrayar marries Shahrazad despite her father’s begging her not to, and with that act, Shahrayar steps into a different role: that of royal listener. He is the audience of one that makes the most difference in the larger frame story about despair and revenge. Shahrayar says yes when his new wife Shahrazad offers to entertain him with a story on their wedding night, not realizing what has been initiated. This first story leads to hundreds of nights of suspense and entertainment in which Shahrayar’s heart softens and his respect grows. This change not only saves the life of Shahrazad and the other women who may have followed her, but it also saves Shahrayar’s life, for he changes from being a hardened and hurt man to one who is receptive and generous.

This is the central change in The Arabian Nights. Midway through the stories and nights, Shahrayar even asks for a story by title and allows Shahrazad to finish a story on one night with the promise of an even more exciting one to follow. Although his reactions are brief, readers see Shahrayar’s attitude shift and soften as he looks forward to nights with his beloved and her amazing power to entertain and enthrall. Although Shahrayar as a character may stand in the background of all the stories, he has the power to determine the storyteller’s fate, and he proves that he is able to change.