Ali Baba and the forty Thieves

Cunning, concealment, and mystery seem to be the major literary themes of the tale of Ali Baba. Yet this 'midnight tale' does not follow all of Literature's strict rules. Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves Killed by a Slave Girl has no protagonist. The storyteller begins following Ali Baba'a narrative, but as the story continues his thread slowly fades away and Marjana's actions take the lead. This is a purposeful move by Scheherazade. She could not begin her tale with a slave women; we have already learned from the frame-story that male elites deserve the bulk of the action. Therefore our storyteller cleverly begins her tale with a man (though he is still a peasantry). Once the listener is hooked to the intrigue of the tale, Scheherazade uses slight of hand and replaces our hero Ali Baba (who has now gained the title of master) with the slave girl, Marjana. However Marjana  not only holds her own against her predecessor, Ali Baba, she manages to go far beyond his previous achievements. Ali Baba outsmarts the thieves maybe twice at the beginning of the story, but Marjana outwits the thieves 3 times and eventually rids the world of the thieves Al. By placing Marjana at the forefront of the action and portraying her as the hero with the most cunning Scheherazade undermines the view that the malice of  women is great.