Reflection on the Tale of Genji

Reflection on the Tale of Genji

The tale of Genji is considered to be one of the most popular and important stories in ancient Japanese literature. According to Sin Ohno – a Japanese scholar, no other story was written in such a precise language during the Heian era other than the Tale of Genji. Its author – Murasaki Shikibu – is female. The Tale of Genji reveals different concepts about women and marriage during the period. Additionally, it reveals how men and women relate in society and how people of different statuses treated each other. This paper explores the nature of relationships or how people in The Tale of Genji related, and it also discusses the relationship between Genji Himself and his many women..

During the time when Shikibu wrote the story, the concept of marriage was different from the way we understand it today. Marriage was described as “Tsuma Toi Kon,” literally translated as “wife visit marriage” consecutively. Traditional marriages were very strong at the time. However, men and women at the time did not entirely depend on one another because daughters inherited lands from their mothers; hence women and men had their own different estates and properties. Women had the power to stop men from visiting them in their estates, and there were also occasions when men stopped visiting their women. When this happened, the women could be visited by other men. For example, when Murasaki becomes ill, Genji abandons his “official wife” for a long time to take care of Murasaki. While he was taking care of Murasaki, however, his nephew- who had for a long time lusted over Genji’s “official” wife managed to have an affair with her, and she bore him a son. It was also not considered strange for a man to visit several women at a time during the era.

Women were also treated differently according to their statuses at the time. For instance, Kiritsubo was hated by other women of the court because she was the most loved by the emperor. Kiritsubo suffers greatly form the jealousy and the insults she gets from the other women who were competing with her for the emperor’s attention (p. 7). One cannot also help but notice that Genji himself had relationships with about fifteen women in the tale. And whenever he was so sure that he could get a woman easily, he easily lost interest in her. The only difference between him and modern playboys is that he made sure to provide for all women he got involved with even when he lost interest in them as lovers (p. 7 – 47). In other words, Genji treated how women uniquely even when his love for them had run out.

One woman we can look at is Fujitsubo-no-Chugu. Because she looked like Genji’s late mother, she was summoned to the court, and she became the wife of Genji’s father in law. Later, however, Genji had an affair with her, and they bore a child who later became the emperor. There is also Suetsumu-no-hana, a lady with a red nose and a long face. She had a terrible appearance, she was unattractive, and she did not have any skills. Even though she was very honest, no other man in the tale was interested in her. She was also poor, so Genji helped her with material supplies. Murasaki-no-ue was the most loved of all the women, a clear indication that the degree of love he gave his women varied from woman to woman. Perhaps one instance where he treated a woman as a kindred spirit was after Aoi-no-ue passed away; Genji promoted Murasaki-no-ue to the position of official wife. Murasaki does not, however, perceive Genji as a kindred spirit. She felt betrayed by him because she hoped that he would be a father figure to her and that he would never want to be involved with her sexually. Even though they differed on this, she could feel that Genji loved her affectionately.

References

Walley, A. (1935). THE TALE OF GENJI: A Novel in Six Parts by Lady Murasaki. London: GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD