I think what's most interesting to me is how similar the plots in the stories are. Even though there were around 17 different tales, many had similar plots and characters. Most started with a son, or poor man, who runs across a beautiful fish, bird or other animal. The animal then turns into a beautiful maiden (either immediately or eventually) and the King wishes to marry or take the maiden for himself. The King then puts impossible tasks before the young man, who finds help from his magical animal-maiden and completes them. In The Fish-Peri, he has to build a beautiful palace, a crystal bridge, hold a huge feast and find a talking infant. All of these he finds and helps him win back his beautiful maiden, who he promptly marries. In The Crown-Peri, the young man must win back his fish-maiden by bringing in ivory trunks and the bird's fairy-Queen owner. After satisfying the King he gets to marry the bid, who has turned into a woman. The Wizard-Dervish details the story of a young man who finds himself captured by a Dervish and three doves (who, naturally, are women). One dove-woman in particular helps him choose a wife (her) and escape the Dervish's beatings.
These themes are present in many of the stories in this unit and give insight into how the Turkish cultural values and history. The female always acts as an advice-giver. helping the man through his troubles. I'm not exactly sure why she doesn't start in human form, always as an animal, but maybe it contributes to the magical theme of the tales. Maybe, the male characters need to get to know the female characters (as animals) first to get the help they need, before they marry them. I found these stories interesting and entertaining to read. The magical and mythical aspects made the stories more dynamic, however, I noticed that many did not have an overall theme or moral at the end, like some fairytales do.
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