The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu

                                              Love or Abuse? 


    The Tale of Genji was very interesting to read. The story expresses how a woman who did not have any high ranking was chosen by the Emperor although he had a first wife. The Emperor favorited this woman and believed she was the most beautiful one of them all. The Emperor kept her very close to hm and wanted her to be attached to the hip. It was very discomforting for her to live in the house because all of the other women were jealous of her, and I can imagine she felt suffocated because of the position the Emperor had over her. She became very depressed to the point where she wasn't eating and she started to decline, throughout the story she even looked frail, and her face seemed skinny. The Emperor impregnated the woman and that's how the birth of Genji came to be. When he was born everyone was in awe of how beautiful and charming, he was. The verbal abuse from the other women continued and the women continued to be more and more depressed. She expressed to the Emperor she wanted to leave and go home and the Emperor refused and continued to have her live in the household. 

    This story made me realize how abusive the Emperor must have been, not in a physical way however, he didn't allow her to have her own free will. He kept her for his own selfish reasonings when she was literally diminishing right before his eyes. I wasn't surprised that she died at the end because she had suffered for years. I was sad to know that Genji would not have his mother anymore because of the suffering that she had to endure. If the Emperor truly loved her, he would've let her go and would have allowed her to be as healthy as she can be. The ironic part in this is that the Emperor wanted her to never leave his side and now she is gone forever. 




#fa23worldlit


Comments

  1. ava moranOctober 31, 2023 at 11:20 AM

    I like your exploration of if the emperor's obsession with the woman was more abusive than a sign of love. He claimed he love her, but refused to realize that staying with him was killing her. He did nothing to stop the cruel words of the other jealous women because it was not personally affecting him.

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  2. AnonymousDecember 5, 2023 at 3:56 PM

    Tale of Genji was an outstanding story. Some of the scenes that were played in this story are still seen in today's world. For example, Genji is obsessed with the woman and doesn't allow her to do anything that is not real love. This is seen as selfish love.

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