Dreams of Trespass: Tales of a Harem Girlhood

Aunt Habiba’s most popular story concerns a woman who grows wings and flies away from a harem. Why does this tale resonate so strongly with Fatima and the other residents of the harem? How does the idea of a winged woman reflect the larger themes of the novel?

Fatima spends most of her childhood behind the walls of her city harem, but she visits her grandmother in the countryside every year. Compare and contrast the urban harem in Fez, and Grandmother’s farm harem. How does the farm’s more natural setting impact the lives of its residents? In what ways does the farm provide freedom, and in what ways does this rural harem still confine women?

Throughout Dreams of Trespass, Fatima is inspired by the stories of real-life and mythological women as retold by Aunt Habiba and Cousin Chama. Choose one of these stories and analyze it in depth. Why does this story appeal to Fatima, and how does it reflect the larger themes of the novel?

Describe the relationship between Fatima’s mother and father. How does Father try to meet his wife’s needs, and in what ways does he fall short? How do Mother and Father’s contradictory desires reflect a larger conflict in 1940s Morocco?

Throughout Dreams of Trespass, Fatima learns valuable lessons from her mother, grandmother, Cousin Chama, and Aunt Habiba. Choose one of these characters and explore her relationship with young Fatima. How does this woman influence Fatima’s development, and what hopes does she have for Fatima’s future? Why are the relationships between women of such importance in Fatima’s story?

How does Fatima’s relationship with her male cousin Samir reflect male-female relationships as a whole in her world? How does their friendship shift as the cousins grow older, and how do these changes relate to Fatima’s overall exploration of her world and her place within it?

After hearing Mina’s story of being tortured by kidnappers as a child, Fatima feels a need to learn “how to get out of the well” (169). What does Fatima mean by this statement, both in reference to Mina’s story and in a larger sense? How does Fatima manage to “get out of the well” throughout the memoir?

Why are beauty rituals so important to the women of the harem? How do these seemingly superficial treatments become a political statement? How do the rituals relate to women’s agency, or lack thereof, in Fatima’s world?