Ahha! Here we have it: the jealous, eager to please, pliable woman is more desirable than the talented, sensuous, aggressive woman with multiple callers. Her unfaithfulness is named as her largest fault, but the man who states this was seeing the jealous woman at the same time as her! The scholarly woman who has not absorbed feminine traits is named as the worst of all, and the woman who is quicker than her partner as a witch.
One wonders if this is Shikabu's opinion or what she has gleaned from court life. "Yes, it is an uncertain world, especially for women. They are like bits of driftwood." I hear the echo of the frustrations of early feminists.
I'm not usually about feminist criticism, but this book about a man written by a woman in an old patriarchal society which right now is focusing on affairs between men and women practically invites it.
Other observations about the book: its descriptions of scenery are extremely beautiful, and it is interesting to hear one of the characters talk about "none of this Japanese nonsense" in reference to writing. Apparently the transition to a native language was still underway at the time this was written.
Oh, and the women on Painted Babies should have their children taken away. No lie.
Showing posts with label Tale of Genjii. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tale of Genjii. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
More thoughts on the Tale of Genjii
The chapter I am on deals with Genjii as an "adult", at a few years older than twelve. Genjii is now running around with women and breaking the occasional heart. He sometimes visits his wife.
This chapter is written as a conversation between three men, one of whom is Genjii, on the qualities of a perfect and desirable woman and wife. It's interesting to try and interpret this, as it was of course written by a woman. How much of this is information gleaned from court, cattiness, or personal opinion? It states in the introduction that Shikibu herself was not by birth of the higher court, and she indeed states that it is more desirable to court a pretty and talented girl of middle rank than one who's upbringing has gone wrong in the higher rank. The chapter is a long list and story of types of women in black and white terms, such as the naive ones, the household busibody, and those obsessed with etiquette(long story short-all not that great).
At times I could almost feel as though I was picking up on her personal frustration about certain practices of women and their families, especially when she talks about women having a few good qualities that are played up and leaked to the world, and their character never matching up to the story created around them.
Women are not portrayed as opressed, mearly sheltered, and have access to the arts. In fact, one of the most looked-for qualities is a talented woman, at least according to Shikibu, though she, or rather one of the men, says that ultimatley steadfastdness of personality is more desirable than talent. Women are taught to write, though whether or not they memorize the classics such as upper-class men is not clear. It is also unclear how accepted they are in the fields of painting and caligraphy. So far, however, women are not portayed as having relationships with more than one man. It may be implied in a couple of places that some of the ones around Genjii's age do.
So, yes. It is incredible to interact with these characters from the first book in the twenty-first century, to understand them and the beauty surrounding them, to appreciate how novels have evolved over time, to analyse and critique it, and occasionally observe my own modern enculturation about men and women color the text. It is a gratifying read, though a slow one.
This chapter is written as a conversation between three men, one of whom is Genjii, on the qualities of a perfect and desirable woman and wife. It's interesting to try and interpret this, as it was of course written by a woman. How much of this is information gleaned from court, cattiness, or personal opinion? It states in the introduction that Shikibu herself was not by birth of the higher court, and she indeed states that it is more desirable to court a pretty and talented girl of middle rank than one who's upbringing has gone wrong in the higher rank. The chapter is a long list and story of types of women in black and white terms, such as the naive ones, the household busibody, and those obsessed with etiquette(long story short-all not that great).
At times I could almost feel as though I was picking up on her personal frustration about certain practices of women and their families, especially when she talks about women having a few good qualities that are played up and leaked to the world, and their character never matching up to the story created around them.
Women are not portrayed as opressed, mearly sheltered, and have access to the arts. In fact, one of the most looked-for qualities is a talented woman, at least according to Shikibu, though she, or rather one of the men, says that ultimatley steadfastdness of personality is more desirable than talent. Women are taught to write, though whether or not they memorize the classics such as upper-class men is not clear. It is also unclear how accepted they are in the fields of painting and caligraphy. So far, however, women are not portayed as having relationships with more than one man. It may be implied in a couple of places that some of the ones around Genjii's age do.
So, yes. It is incredible to interact with these characters from the first book in the twenty-first century, to understand them and the beauty surrounding them, to appreciate how novels have evolved over time, to analyse and critique it, and occasionally observe my own modern enculturation about men and women color the text. It is a gratifying read, though a slow one.
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