Persian narrative literature, with its complex structures and profound concepts, provides a rich platform for narratological analyses. Among these, Marzbannameh, as a prominent work, creates extensive semantic connections through multilayered tales and diverse characters. This research, using David Herman's Narrative Network Theory, examines the relationships between characters, events, times, and places in the first chapter of this work. Herman's theory is based on the principle that narratives are not only composed of independent elements, but these elements are connected through a network of semantic relationships, and these connections play a significant role in understanding the messages of the story.

In this study, two tales, "Hanbuy with Zahhak" and "Kharreh-Namah and Bahram Gur," have been analyzed as prominent examples. The results show that in the tale of "Hanbuy with Zahhak," the moral choice of the main character to save his brother forms a network of emotional, familial, and power relationships that also affect the behavior of the character Zahhak. In the tale of "Kharreh-Namah and Bahram Gur," the interaction between the king and the peasant represents the impact of individual behavior on society and the role of justice in governance. Also, the study of temporal and spatial relationships showed that the nonlinear structure of the narrative, by embedding sub-narratives within the main narrative, creates a network of multilayered meanings.