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Part 4, Chapter 10
Themes
and Colors
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Forty Rules of Love, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Spirituality
Connections Across Distance and Time
Appearances vs. Reality
Storytelling and Truth
Summary
Analysis
Suleiman the Drunk. Konya, June 1246. In the audience, Suleiman is amazed by the sema that Shams and Rumi do. Kaykhusraw II, a sultan, is also at the performance. He smugly congratulates Shams and Rumi, offering them a payment. But Shams flings Kaykhusraw’s wallet back at him, saying that they don’t dance for money. People in the crowd murmur at how Shams offended a great leader. People head to the exit in protest, including Sheikh Yassin, his students, and Aladdin.
When Kaykhusraw II offers money to Shams and Rumi, the gesture has condescending undertones. He seems to be suggesting that what they’re doing is merely entertainment, or perhaps even similar to sex work, akin to the dances Desert Rose used to do. Shams rejects the money, in order to assert the spiritual seriousness of what he and Rumi are doing. Because Shams doesn’t care about reputation, he doesn’t take into account how this will offend Kaykhusraw II.
Active
Themes
