A trickster is found where there are boundaries begging to be crossed. A trickster does not look for trouble; he or she looks for a way to challenge the status quo. In literature, the function of a trickster is “to uncover and disrupt the very things that cultures are based on” (Hyde 9). The need to challenge the status quo and disturb cultural boundaries makes female characters compelling in this role. Since their male-dominated cultures will not change for them, they become the “creators of culture” (Hyde 8). Being one of the most versatile of character types, tricksters may vary greatly in nature. Brutality or kindness may be matched with wit to help tricksters achieve their end goals. In the stories The Medea and The Thousand and One Nights,…show more content… King Shahrayar, after witnessing two adulteries, believes women are scandalous, selfish, and “not to be trusted,” so he spends each day marrying a new woman just to have her executed in the morning (Thousand and One Nights 409). Sharazad is much more intelligent than women of her culture are expected to be. She is very confident in her ability to put an end to Shahrayar’s streak and her decision to do so distinguishes her from the women previously introduced in The Thousand and One Nights. So, in order to save the women in the kingdom, Shahrazad volunteers to wed Shahrayar and spends each night, for a thousand and one nights, telling the king stories of courage, wisdom, and other noble traits that a king should possess (Thousand and One Nights). Each night, Shahrazad ends her story on a cliffhanger to ensure the king will have to keep her alive another night if he wants to hear the end of the story. By the end of the thousand and one nights, Shahrazad has birthed three children with Shahrayar and he admits to her that she was “already in [his] heart before the coming of [their] children” (Thousand and One Nights 471). Shahrayar, because of Shahrazad’s influence, is able to see women as more than just selfishly promiscuous beings. The women of the kingdom are saved because of Shahrazad…show more content… When Jason breaks his marriage vow with Medea, she reacts with anger and revenge. When Shahrayar is marrying and murdering every woman in the kingdom, Shahrazad takes action and tries to change his ways. For these reasons, Medea can be seen as more selfishly motivated than Shahrazad. However, Medea’s actions, in a way, are also a rebellion against the patriarchal society that made her circumstances possible. Shahrazad is not quite as outright rebellious with her scheme, but she uses her stories and tricky nature to cultivate change in a monarchy that does not look kindly upon her gender. Both Medea and Shahrazad rely on their own strengths to find ways to change their circumstances instead of falling to
