A Summary and Analysis of ‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’

By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)

‘Aladdin and the Magic Lamp’ is the most famous story from the Arabian Nights collection of stories, also known as the 1,001 Nights. However, the story’s origins are surprising, and in fact for many centuries it wasn’t part of the Arabian Nights at all. But before we come to the question of textual analysis or the story’s complex history, let’s summarise the plot of the story of Aladdin.

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Surprising Facts about Aladdin and the Arabian Nights

By Dr Oliver Tearle

The story of Aladdin is one of the most familiar narratives in all of literature, a classic ‘rags to riches’ tale featuring a young hero who has to learn an important lesson; an exotic setting; a good healthy dose of magic; a beautiful heroine; and an evil villain (or two, depending on which version of the story you follow). We have analysed the story of Aladdin itself in detail here.

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