Reading 1001 discussion

Questions from Penguin Random House

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What do the men in the tale value in a woman?

2. How does a man gain access to a woman, and how does a woman safeguard her dignity?

3. How do the characters in the tale define personal worth? What do they admire?

4. What consequences flow from the birth of Genji’s son by his father’s Empress?

5. What are the reasons for Genji’s exile (chapter 13) and its consequences?

6. How do the characters view the native (Japanese) in comparison with the foreign (Chinese)?

7. Is there humor in the tale? How does it work?

8. What are the erotic elements in the tale? What is their value?

9. Spirits speak several times in the tale. How do the characters react to these events? What do you make of them?

10. In chapter 2 a young courtier discourses generally on art, in chapter 17 the issue is painting, and in chapter 25 Genji discusses fiction. How do the views expressed relate to more recent ones, including yours?

11. How do you imagine the men and women in the tale spending their time when the text does not tell you what they are doing?

12. Why does Genji marry Onna San no Miya (the Third Princess)?

13. What role do dreams play in the tale?

14. What do you make of the tale’s last heroine, Ukifune?

15. What do you think happens beyond the tale’s last page?

1. What do the men in the tale value in a woman?
Men like Genji seem to value good looks, first and foremost. Second, would be proper behavior. For example, when Genji first sees Murasaki as a child, he is attracted by her looks and her temperament: she is modest and obedient, not impudent or forward. In chapter 22, Genji states: “…if a woman is to be agreeable to a man, she must not be flighty or focused on herself but be passive and gentle.” Having skills in calligraphy, poetry, and/or music is a sign that the woman has been raised properly and is at least somewhat intelligent. Finally, there would be the rank or lineage. What makes a woman perfect, it seems, is her willingness to be exactly what the man wants, hence Genji’s desire to raise Muraski into his ideal of womanhood.

In chapter XLV, a footnote states, “An important characteristic of the story is that many of the female characters are ‘nameless’ in the sense that they are identified solely in terms of their relationship to a male character.”

In chapter XLVI, Kaoru explains that Niou favors ladies who are gentle an unassertive, who go along with what society deems acceptable and who overlook minor indiscretions (i.e., their husband’s affairs) as the workings of Karma.

2. How does a man gain access to a woman, and how does a woman safeguard her dignity?
Genji just sneaks into private rooms. In chapter 21, the narrator notes that Genji never lets his son near Murasaki’s quarters because he knows what he was like as a boy. Bribing servants and handmaidens is helpful in this regard. The Major Captain gets access to Tamakazura without Genji’s permission, by involving “one of her more impulsive attendants.” In chapter 35, Kashiwaga gains access to the Third Princess by convincing one of her handmaidens to help him. And, in chapter 47, the older Uji princess remembers, “In romances of old, there isn’t a single instance of a lady who initiates an affair on her own. It’s always the lady’s women.”

Regarding dignity/reputation… Being one man’s mistress is not necessarily a terrible thing, but it’s important for the man to show the woman respect and continue to take care of her. When Genji discovers the affair between Kashiwaga and the Third Princess, he’s not too upset but thinks, “Their carelessness suggested a complete lack of consideration for him.” (670) In other words, it’s not the affair so much as the fact that he found out (because she left a letter lying around). Later, Kashiwaga will describe it as “a minor matter” that offended to Genji (p. 685).

This doesn’t apply to all women, however; the emperor’s consorts don’t have sexual freedom. Rumors and loose talk can ruin one’s reputation, so keeping an affair relatively secret is important. Oborozukiyo is a good example of this. She is made a laughingstock because everyone finds out about her affair with Genji. But because she was not “an official imperial consort,” her sexual conduct was not restricted. Hence, Suzaku reinstates her at court. (see question #5 below)

BTW, I hate how the women are basically blamed when it’s clear that a man gains access to her room without permission and rapes her – this happens with Kashiwaga and the Third Princess. When Genji contemplates the situation, he recalls that Oborozukiyo yielded to him too easily. Basically, whenever this happens, it’s the woman’s fault for not being sufficiently cool and reserved.

On p. 742 (ch. 39), Murasaki muses, “Is there any life as restricted and miserable as a woman’s? If a woman is withdrawn, quiet and meek to the point that she never experiences the poignant beauty of things, or the delights of elegant events, how can she know the glories of living of find consolation for the tedium of this unsettled world?.”

3. How do the characters in the tale define personal worth? What do they admire?
Characters place value on appearance, of course, but also on talents, like dancing, playing musical instruments, calligraphy, creating incense, writing poems, etc. It is also important to know the proper way to behave in a given situation. These are all the reasons Genji is so admired – he is gorgeous, has multiple talents, and knows how to treat everyone according to their rank.

It’s also not deemed “proper” or “lucky” to be overly attached to another person, whether spouse, friend, or parent. One of the reasons Genji’s mother was disliked is that his father wanted to be with her all the time. Sometimes I got the sense that this is seen as “low class” but at others it’s seen as bad luck.” E..g. in chapter 39, when the Second Princess’s mother dies and she is prostrate with grief, the attendants worry that the behavior is “ominous.”

4. What consequences flow from the birth of Genji’s son by his father’s Empress?
Reizei (Genji’s son by Fujitsubo) becomes emperor. The Left returns to power, and Genji is granted several new titles and is eventually treated like a retired emperor. But it doesn’t seem like anyone knows that Genji is really Reizei’s father.

5. What are the reasons for Genji’s exile (chapter 13) and its consequences?
When Genji’s father passes and Suzaku becomes emperor, the Right rises in power. Genji is associated with the Left because of his first marriage, so the Minister of the Right and the Kokiden Consort (mother of Suzaku) are already threatened by him.Genji has an affair with Oborozukiyo (Misty Moon), one of the daughters of the Minster of the Right, who has been promised to the new emperor. When Genji is caught sneaking out of her rooms, he decides to leave before he is formerly charged with an offense and forced into exile.

6. How do the characters view the native (Japanese) in comparison with the foreign (Chinese)?
Chinese items such as paper, ink, incense are regarded as the finest. Also, if I remember correctly, few women know how to read/write Chinese, so it is associated with higher education?

7. Is there humor in the tale? How does it work?
Some of the narrator’s asides are quite funny. In chapter 19, for example, she writes: “Genji laid out numerous precedents in making his case to His Majesty – however, since I am a woman, it would be impudent of me to record in detail their discussions of state affairs, would it not?”

I found this funny, on p. 629 in the Washburn: “Many other poems followed these, but what purpose would it serve to recite them all here? [...] Given that the setting was Sumiyoshi, no one could escape cliched allusions to thousand-year-old pine trees, and in failing to come up with something fresh and modern, the poems were tediously repetitious.”

8. What are the erotic elements in the tale? What is their value?
As mentioned above, a lot of what passes for erotica is a man raping a woman. I would imagine their value was to titillate the original readers.

9. Spirits speak several times in the tale. How do the characters react to these events? What do you make of them?
The spirit of the living Lady at Rokujo is responsible for the death of the Lady of the Evening Faces as well as Genji’s first wife. After her death, she possesses and almost kills Murasaki AND the Third Princess. She is really pissed at Geni. Spirits are not necessarily ghosts but living people capable of possessing others and visiting people in their dreams. At one point, for example, Muraski’s spirit visits Genji in a dream.



10. In chapter 2 a young courtier discourses generally on art, in chapter 17 the issue is painting, and in chapter 25 Genji discusses fiction. How do the views expressed relate to more recent ones, including yours?

11. How do you imagine the men and women in the tale spending their time when the text does not tell you what they are doing?
I would imagine they do things they are described as doing in the text: practicing instruments and calligraphy, making incense, singing and gossiping, playing Go. Hunting is mentioned as a pastime for the men, but Murasaki doesn’t describe this, possibly because she never witnessed it since women rarely seem to leave their villas.

12. Why does Genji marry Onna San no Miya (the Third Princess)?
The former emperor Suzaku wants to retreat from court life and become a monk. He asks Genji to take care of her. Genji is worried about how this will affect Murasaki but ultimately goes through with it for his brother’s sake (and also because he finds the girl attractive, let’s be honest).

13. What role do dreams play in the tale?
They are taken as premonitions. E.g., the Akashi Lady’s father, the monk, has a dream that he will later interpret as a premonition that his daughter and granddaughter would rise to prominence.

14. What do you make of the tale’s last heroine, Ukifune?

15. What do you think happens beyond the tale’s last page?