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 day, tenth story. How in the world does Bartolomea get away with deciding to stay with the man who kidnapped her over the man she married? Since when did women have the balls to do something like that and when did men start letting them get away with this in the medieval times? As much as I applaud her efforts, I’m truly struggling to wrap my brain around these women playing such an active role in their marriage choices and lives.
And another thing, in both the Tale of Kamar Al-Zaman and about three or four stories in the Decameron, women are dressing up and parading around as men. I mean, I know Boccaccio is trying to create this blended world of unknown Greek and exotic Arabic, but really? How believable is it that women could dress up as men, hide their completely different body types and mannerisms, and become kings, sultans, advisers, husbands, etc. I especially liked that the daughter of the King of England is traveling as a male Abbott. I really think the royal family may have had a problem with this.