Cliffhangar

• A Cliffhangar is a plot device where the main Protagonist at the end of an episode, is left in either a precarious dilemma or is presented with a shocking disclosure. The technique is designed to make the audience return to the next instalment.
• Charles Dickens is credited with pioneering the serial novel by utilising cliffhangers.

The Thousand and One Arabian Nights

• In ‘A Thousand and One Arabian Nights’, Scheherezade, the main storyteller, outwits King Shahryar, who has executed 1001 virgins after just one night, lest they become unfaithful.
• She does this by breaking off in the middle of the story at dawn, whereupon the King insists the next night that she finish her story. This she does, but restarts another, again ending halfway through the story, until 1001 nights have passed, by which time the King has fallen in love with her and marries her.

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