Learning from Scheherazade while Binge-Watching ‘Succession’

Ruhl contracted COVID and was sick for over ten days, during which time she binge-watched the television series Succession.

Ruhl questions the serial form that “creates appetite without catharsis.” Reflecting on the form, she is reminded of the story of Scheherazade from One Thousand and One Nights. Scheherazade agrees to marry a vengeful king who marries a new woman each day before killing them that night. To prevent her own death she tells stories to her husband but stops at a suspenseful point just before the designated time of her execution. Ruhl likens the work of television series writers to this legendary tale. Overall, the chapter interrogates our reliance on story and the nature of plot — the beginning, the middle, and the end — or the unfolding story without a bird’s-eye view.

The ongoing series form in general has always given me a bit of terror because it creates appetite without catharsis. Good television forestalls satisfaction, creates desire for more and more plot without ever satisfying it -- in order to create more watching.
- Sarah Ruhl

Discussion Questions

What do you take from the story of Scheherazade?

Ruhl asks “is there violence to plot”? How would you answer that?

Why do you imagine Ruhl felt more alive knowing she had stories?

How would you describe Ruhl’s fear about the series form? What is your perspective?

Ruhl places great value on arc and on catharsis. What is your response to that perspective?

What or who do you think is the teacher that Ruhl wishes to honor in this chapter?

What lessons will you carry from this chapter?

Related Resources

Gertrude Stein

Plot

Re-runs and recycling

Succession scripts(Season Four)

One Thousand and One Nights