Abstract: This essay discusses The Tale of Genji in the context of the extreme physical and psychological vulnerability of the Heian woman which “augured ill for her happiness.” The Heian woman had very few rights during this time and men were able to exploit women in every realm of society.
The Tale of Genji
One commentator, Helen McCullugh, has written that “the most salient fact that emerges from Murasaki’s book [Genji Monogatari], driven home in one episode after another, is that the extreme physical and psychological vulnerability of the Heian woman augured ill for her happiness.” To be sure, the extreme physical and psychological vulnerability of the Heian woman did highly mould the Heian’s woman’s unhappiness. This is because women were completely exploited, not only sexually, but also in every other realm of life as well.
It is important to understand that Shikibu\'s The Tale of Genji is a tale of jealousy, agony, and all of the universal pains of love. And the......
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Approximate Word Count: 939
Approximate Pages: 4 (260 words per double-spaced page) |