The Tale of Genji

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 vulnerability of the Heian woman is at the epicentre of these phenomena. That is because the male was able to do what he wanted at his will, with the woman representing the victim.

More than anything else, in dealing with relationships, and one night stands, the tale of Genji is about the basics of love. More than anything else, it is about the pleasure and pain that comes with both love and lust, as well as life in general. We see that there is a duality in life, as well as in women's experiences.

It is important to understand that the work was written in the Japanese language of the Heian Period, c. 795-1185 AD, and received several translations into modern Japanese in the last decades of the 19th century. Otherwise, the original stories and motifs were well known to many Japanese in a number of related folk stories and productions involving assorted royal families and dashing young heirs. The relationships and love affairs that we see are a metaphor to the triumphs and failure in life in general. But more than anything, we see the vulnerability of the women. They are, in many respects, victims of the society.

Thus, we begin to see that the novel has a strong feminist voice, and it appears to protest the conditions of women at the time. As a result, it criticizes the excessive physical and psychological vulnerability that made the Heian woman so unhappy.

In this context, The Tale of Genji could, from one perspective, be seen as an expression of dissatisfaction about the status of women in that period. This is directly connected to the relationships and meanings of the one night stands that Genji has, since these developments are ridden with women being discarded by the prince, who uses and exploits women. This is one of the most compelling cases that reveals the vulnerability of the Heian woman. To a large extent, there is no seduction; one could argue that Genji is, in fact, raping these women that he sleeps with. This is especially where we see the theme of unhappiness.

In considering these realities, it must be kept in mind that Asian societies are still noted for their elaborate forms of social order. Their artistic expression is often romantic and in The Tale of Genji, the reader finds a familiar theme of love -- as the source of longing and pain is consistent throughout.

In the end, we see power struggles and great tragedy.