The Tale of Genji

Table of Contents Introduction Discussion Conclusion Works Cited Introduction ‘The Tale of Genji’ is an ancient Japanese literature work written by Murasaki Shikibu. The story line is a clear indicator of an aristocratic society that has its members falling in love with classiness. It displays the individuals as models of elegance and culture. It talks about Genji, the son of one emperor who had reigned from his middle age and climbed up the ladder of influence and rank (Shikibu Murasaki 7).Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Tale of Genji specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More While reviewing ‘The Tale of Genji’, one main theme that emerges is the theme of love and interaction between men and women. This theme is an illustration of how relationships at the emperor’s court (in Japan) were working nealry a thousand years ago. Within the story, there are various instances of romantic interactions with women from different ranks and appearances. This paper explores the different instances where the theme of love, lust and interactions of opposing sexes as they appear in the book. Discussion In attaining both emotional and physical maturity, Genji would spend time composing poems in order to show his affection for women. However, most of the women that he interacted with were aware that no serious form of relationship would occur between them and Genji. On the other hand, they would at times admit that they also had love feeling for him. His affairs were dynamic in that he slept with women from in and out of the court. For an individual of his rank, his sexual habits were scandalous and would therefore opt to keep it secret. In the book, Genji falls in love with even women who come from a lower rank. This heavily disappoints the grand ladies at the court. Despite the ladies’ beauty and class, Genji strives to keep it a secret. The secret however are consta ntly disclosed and every person at the court becomes aware that the emperor loves a certain lady at the different scenarios. The end result is that the royal co-wives from the higher social station become frustrated and frequently speak against the emperor’s new love. With time, the new ladies’ continue to move out with the emperor and give birth of Genji’s children (Shikibu Murasaki 17-32). In chapter two of the book, Genji and his wife live in Sanjo at the house of his father- in law. Despite having a wife, Genji frequently strays away from her to have affairs with other women. Despite his wife’s unhappiness about the promiscuity at the court, he continues to explore the world of women.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Genji constantly sleeps with new women and spares very little time for Sanjo. In his friendship with To no Chujo, the Rightâ₠¬â„¢s Minister, the author displays the two discussing about exceptional qualities of an excellent woman. This is an indicator of how the two individuals are obsessed with women as depicted in the Tale of Genji. They continue to talk at length about their past relationships with women. This shows that they had an inherent habit and obsession for women (Shikibu Murasaki 17-32). As the chapters in the book progress, Genji’s obsession with women is further shown when he visits Koremistu, his former nurse in his growing up, who at this point is a nun. At this juncture, Genji is after seeing Yugao, the lady who stays around the nunnery. In her efforts to reach Yugao, Genji comments about her writing in order to seduce her but he does not succeed. Within no time, Genji enters into a romantic relationship with another lady who lives in Rokujo. After little resistance, he finally manages to sleep with her. Despite sleeping with Rokujo, Genji realizes that sleeping with her to fulfill his sexual desires does make him colder (Shikibu Murasaki 34-65). When Genji falls ill with malaria, he is advised to seek cure from a sage at the mountains where he too soon sees Murasaki. This beautiful young girl is only ten years. Despite her tender age Genji falls in love with her and is determined to make her his wife upon her becoming a woman. In this regard, he speaks to the bishop at the local nunnery about taking her for a daughter, but his intentions were to make her his wife. After a while his family gives in to the emperor’s son decision although with difficulties. Finally, the innocent girl gets into the hidden trap of Genji. Although nobody is aware of what was happening at Nijo, rumors went round about the presence of Murasaki. Additionally, the theme is furthered by the fact that Left’s Minister does nothing to stop Genji’s treatment towards his daughter. This is an illustration of how the society was immoral and disrespectful towards marriages and sexuality (Shikibu Murasaki 98-118). At the Cherry Blossoms’ festival, Genji gets back to his room where he is outdone with loneliness. However, critiques may question as to why he could only find companionship in women and not in men around the palace, as most readers would argue that this is because he only wanted women with whom he would o to bed with.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Tale of Genji specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Searching around the palace, he finally comes across an open door where he takes the lady to his room. The author says that he makes love to Oborozukiyo till dawn. This is the highest level of promiscuity as indicated in the book. This is because Genji is sleeping around with women to satisfy his sexual desires without even having to learn about them. From this instance it is clear that Genji’s sexual drive is in fact not love but lust (Shikibu Murasaki 137-145 ). When the new emperor for Suzaku comes into power, Genji decides to stop seeing new women and work on maintaining the existing in order to have peace with this new emperor. However, after failing to see Fujitsubo who was with the former emperor most of the time, Genji resorts to not seeing any other woman from his garnered clique. This shows that Genji is actually not driven with love but mere admiration and lust for women. The kind of love that the author depicts is ironical. Genji at one time publicly snubbed the Rokujo lady during the Kamo festival. More so, he decides not to visit the women whom he had slept with without any explanations. This further suggests that he was a self centered man who was using women as sexual objects (Shikibu Murasaki 150-159). In chapter twelve of the book, the author depicts the kind of sufferings that Genji is facing for his actions. As a result, he decides to run to Suma coast in order to avoid the harsh circumstances facing his life. At this j uncture, Genji is facing some sort of impermanent ties in his life but he is sure about having Murasaki for a wife, despite this he still decides to exile to Summa coast. While this is going on, Genji has lust for a princess due to the beauty of her music on zither. Within a very short time, he had admired her and started pursuing her through love letters. However after all this dramatic love instances, Genji eventually faces the outcome of his immoral habits (Shikibu Murasaki 175-185). Conclusion The above scenes show the kind of relationships that Genji had with the women whom he is relating with. The book indicates that rank, position and the power that one has determined the kind of persons that one visit marries and relates with. As depicted by the author, Genji is constantly looking for bed friendships at no breaks in between the relationships with the other women he sleeps with. As the author indicates, he went through much trouble trying to hide the illegal affairs and also to appeal his peers within the court. Additionally, Genji would use several secret messengers in and out of the court, visited Yugao only in dark and also went further to adopt a child with an excuse of fathering her (Shikibu Murasaki 98-118).Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More As illustrated in the book, each affair is totally different from the other. In one occasion of his affairs, Genji tries to entice Utsuemi through messages and making prompt visits at odd times of the night. However, the relationship between Genji and Yugao was unstable and resulted into Yugao’s untimely death. From the above discussion it is clear that Genji wanders through life, death, and love landscapes while struggling to maintain a Teflon-like rank. Works Cited Murasaki, Shikibu. The Tale of Genji. U.S: Tuttle Publishing, 2006. Print. This essay on The Tale of Genji was written and submitted by user Mario Jenkins to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here. The Tale of Genji Introduction The Tale of Genji is an ancient Japanese writing credited to the Japanese novelist Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th century. The book is sometimes referred to as the world’s first novel and its specific classification and influence in both the eastern and western cultures has been a subject of dispute. It was originally written in court Japanese but has undergone several translations to date, even undergoing a translation into modern Japanese as the original language was too complex to be comprehended by average Japanese.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The Tale of Genji specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Plot Genji narrates the life of a son of a Japanese royal leader, referred to as Hikaru Genji. Genji is demoted to a commoner status on political grounds and starts an occupation as an imperial official. The account focuses on Genji’s romantic life and illustrates the conventions of th e aristocratic society of this period, a lot is referred to in relation to Genji’s attractiveness. Genji was the second child of some ancient royal leader and a low-grade mistress, known as Lady Kiritsubo. His mother passes on when Genji is only three. Genji’s father then gets to know of a lady (Lady Fujitsubo), previously a princess of the former emperor, who bears resemblance to his dead mistress, he later marries her. Genji falls in love with his stepmother, against tradition. Genji is upset due to his illegal love to Lady Fujitsubo and is on a collision course with his wife. He also has affairs with other women and in most of these cases, his advances are met with repulsion, the woman he loves dies, or the woman is boring. Genji makes a trip to the rural area of Kyoto where he finds an attractive ten-year-old girl (Murasaki) and learns that she is a niece of Lady Fujitsubo. He abducts her, brings her to his palace, and trains her to be his wife. Genji continues to meet Lady Fujitsubo secretly and they have a son together. Everyone except the two believes the boy is the emperor’s son. The boy later becomes the prince and Fujitsubo becomes the Empress. Genji and his wife resolve their dispute and she bears a son, but he dies soon. Genji is distressed , but is comforted by Murasaki, who becomes his wife. Genji’s father passes on and his political rivals transfer power to the courts. Genji is later exiled to a nearby town (Suma) when he is found secretly meeting a mistress of his brother. While in Suma, Genji has an affair with a woman who bears him a daughter- his only daughter. The Emperor forgives Genji and he returns to Kyoto, and his son with Fujitsubo assumes the position of emperor. The new Emperor recognizes that Genji is his actual father and promotes him to the highest position possible. Genji’s life begins to collapse when he turns 40. He marries another woman and this changes his relationship with Murasaki, who no w desires to be a nun. Murasaki passes on.Advertising Looking for essay on literature languages? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In the subsequent chapter, Maboroshi, Genji considers how short life is. The next chapter, Kumogakure, is left blank and symbolizes Genji’s demise. The rest of the chapters focus on Niou and Kaoru, who are close friends. Niou is a royal prince while Kaoru is identified by people as Genji’s son but the real father is Genji’s nephew. The two are fighting over several daughters of a royal prince in Uji, a far-off town. The story ends suddenly, with Kaoru wondering if Niou is hiding the woman he adores. This essay on The Tale of Genji was written and submitted by user Irvin O. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.