ALI BABA AND THE FORTY THIEVES

ORIGIN

From a collection of Arab tales 1001 Arabian Nights

Legend tells that Scheherazade was a wife of a king who only

married virgins and only remained married to them for one night

before cutting off their heads (this was to prevent the wives from

being unfaithful). Scheherazade prolonged her time with the king by

only telling half of a story that first night. The king wanted to hear

the rest of the story so he chose not to behead Scheherazade. The

second night she finished the story and began another – again not

completing it. That pattern continued until Scheherazade ran out of

stories to tell – after 1000 nights and 1001 tales. By the end, the

king had truly fallen in love with Scheherazade and made her his

queen.

CHARACTERS

MAIN CHARACTER

•Ali Baba –

• Protagonist

• Story needs him to be a story

• He must have a conflict

The main character must be interesting and relatable. They are the reason the reader continues through the story. They always develop in some way, whether it be positive or negative.

SUPPORTING CHARACTERS

•Cassim• Is the catalyst for the main conflict in the story

•Captain of the Thieves (aka the ‘merchant’ and ‘Cogia Houssain’)• The antagonist of the story

•Morgiana• The story moves towards a solid conclusion because of

Morgiana’s knowledge and craftiness

•Baba Mustapha• Could be considered a minor character, but he is

responsible for connecting the antagonist to the protagonist in setting up the conflict

Supporting characters are essential and play a direct role in the plot and a heavy impact on the storyline

MINOR CHARACTERS

•40 Thieves

• We know they are thieves, but they don’t play a major role as a whole

•1st Wife

• Because of her, Cassim becomes aware of Ali Baba’s good fortune

•Cassim’s Wife (later becomes Ali Baba’s second wife)

• Shares her questions about Ali Baba with Cassim

•Abdalla

• Assists Morgiana in some of the plot progression

Minor characters do not play a strong role in the progression of the story. They are there to give life to the story and to make it relatable. The story could be told without them, it would just be more difficult

SETTING

SETTING

Town in Persia

Stated in story

Woods/Cave in Persia

Ali Baba was in the woods gathering wood when he saw the thieves enter the cave

Ali Baba’s House

Most of the action takes place at Ali Baba’s house

Long Ago

How do we know it was long ago?

BEGINNING/EXPOSITION

BEGINNING

Ali Baba is cutting wood

He hears a band of thieves and conceals himself in a tree

The thieves open a hidden door in a cave by saying, “Open sesame”

Ali Baba remains hidden until the thieves leave saying, “Close sesame”

What do we learn about Ali Baba in the beginning?

He is very poor

He is somewhat intelligent

Stayed hidden

Covered the gold with wood when taking it home

Warned his wife not to measure the gold

CONFLICT

Conflict

Ali Baba and wife disagree on measuring the gold

Cassim insists on Ali Baba explaining the gold

Cassim cannot remember which phrase opens the door

of the cave

Cassim attempts to flee when the Thieves open the cave

door

Cassim’s wife is concerned when he doesn’t come home

ConflictAli Baba finds Cassim’s body

Baba Mustapha is concerned Morgiana is trying to make

him do something illegal

The Thieves are concerned that somebody knows their

secret

A Thief marks Ali Baba’s door with chalk – marking it so

the group can come back and get their revenge

This happens with both red and white chalk

Thieves hide in large jars outside Ali Baba’s home

The Captain of the Thieves pretends to be Cogia

Houssain to gain entrance to Ali Baba’s home

OVERALL CONFLICT

Main conflict is between the Thieves and Ali Baba.

The Thieves have something they have acquired dishonestly

Ali Baba relieves them of some of their fortune, and thanks to the foolishness of his wife, Cassim ends up finding out about the gold

The Thieves kill Cassim and attempt to kill Ali Baba 4 times but are ultimately unsuccessful thanks to the ingenuity and quick thinking on Morgiana’s part

ENDING/RESOLUTION

RESOLUTIONSConflict Resolution

Ali Baba and wife disagree on measuring the gold Wife measures gold, but doesn’t notice the piece

stuck to the bottom of the measure

Cassim insists on Ali Baba explaining the gold Ali Baba tells about the cave and gives Cassim the

code words

Cassim cannot remember which phrase opens the

door of the cave

Cassim is trapped in the cave and begins to panic

Cassim attempts to flee when the Thieves open the

cave door

The Thieves catch Cassim, kill and quarter him, and

then hang his body parts near the entrance to the

cave to scare away would-be thieves

Cassim’s wife is concerned when he doesn’t come

home

Cassim’s wife begs Ali Baba to look for Cassim, so Ali

Baba goes to the cave

Conflict ResolutionAli Baba finds Cassim’s body Ali Baba works with Morgiana to create a cover story

that will safely explain Cassim’s death

Baba Mustapha is concerned Morgiana is trying to

make him do something illegal

Morgiana promises Baba Mustapha everything is fine

and pays him for his work

The Thieves are concerned that somebody knows their

secret

The robbers set out to find who knows what

A Thief marks Ali Baba’s door with chalk – marking it

so the group can come back and get their revenge

This happens with both red and white chalk

Morgiana sees the mark and makes a similar mark on

neighboring houses to confuse the robbers

This occurs twice

Thieves hide in large jars outside Ali Baba’s home Morgiana finds them and kills them all with hot oil

The Captain of the Thieves pretends to be Cogia

Houssain to gain entrance to Ali Baba’s home

Morgiana discovers the Captain and stabs him while

she is dancing after dinner

FINAL RESOLUTION

The Captain and 38 of the Thieves die at the hand of Morgiana, Ali Baba’s intelligent slave

As a result, Ali Baba gives Morgiana to his son as a wife

Ali Baba also informs his son of the cave’s location and secrets, and they all live in wealth, happily ever after

THEME

THEME

Thoughts?