The Ideal of a Man and Woman of the Heian court
Based on the Tale of Genji
by Barry Wright
Essay: The Ideal of a Man and Woman of the Heian court Based on the Tale of Genji
Pages: 10
Rating: 3 stars
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In this modern day and age, the epitome of manliness, at least to the Western world, includes a few main things –
masculinity, or physical strength, mental acuity, and being an emotional rock – one who is emotionally stable and
almost stoic, capable of comforting and lending strength. The modern epitome of womanliness is one
encompassing sensuousness, gentility, emotion, cunning, and more and more often, strength of mind. This plays
in stark contrast with the Japanese Heian-era notions of the ideal man and woman as portrayed in Murasaki
Shikibu's Tale of Genji. When assessing these ideals, one must also take into account the fact that this novel
describes the somewhat atypical Japanese Heian court life as opposed to the daily life of commoners.
When assessing Tale of Genji and attempting to understand the ideal qualities of a man or woman of the time,
one must also take into account the author and the audience she writes for, as well as what should be considered
a miniscule amount of background knowledge on the Heian era of Japan. Murasaki Shikibu was a gentlewoman in
the services of the Empress Akiko (or Shoshi, as she is sometimes called) during the reign of Emperor Ichijou,
taken into service for her remarkable literary prowess. The Heian court life was thus constantly revolving around
our Murasaki, and allowed her to write what is arguably the most accurate literary depiction of itself and its
inhabitants available to the public. The novel was written for the yokibito, or women of the aristocracy.
According to The Tale of Genji,the ideal Heian court gentleman was a man of many talents, one of political power
and prestige, and as it seems in the novel, one of considerably good looks and emotion. If one takes a quick look
at...