The issue I seem to keep running up against in both Arabian Nights and the Decameron is the extent of control women have in their marriage choices. I really hadn’t thought that they would have much say in the matter of who they would or would not marry. In the Tale of Kamar Al-Zaman, not only does Kamar refuse to marry, but Princess Budur refuses her father as well. And yeah, so she gets scolded, locked up in her own little chamber, but she still gets what she wants: no husband. And when the lovely princess decides that she’s changed her mind, she’ll only marry Kamar. When I had thought of wealthy aristocratic families like this, whether Arabic or English, I had thought the daughters married who their fathers said they would marry, no questions asked. And they certainly wouldn’t get away with threats of suicide.
And in the Decameron, second […]
Original post by kaseyd