Judith Kegan Gardiner writes in On Female Identity and Writing by Women that “[f]emale identity is a process and writing by women engages us in this process as the female seeks to define itself in the experience of creating art” (361). Elaine Showalter takes the case further in her discussion of gender differences in determining “whether sex differences in language use can be theorized in terms of biology, socialization, and culture; whether women can create new languages of their own; [and] whether speaking, reading, and writing are gender marked” (252). She concludes that insufficient evidence exists in the dialogue between the genders, that language is not codified by sex and therefore cannot be regarded excepting “styles, strategies,
…show more content…
Detached from political conflict or economic need, the characters’ main profession is privilege. They are free to patronize the arts in a peaceful sheltered existence. The setting of the novel is the woman’s domain, but it centrally depicts the idyllic male lover (Genji), thereby inserting a man into the woman’s situation. Murasaki Shikibu presents what is thought to be an authentic assessment of sexual desire and court deception in the sequestered Heian palace. The novel portrays highly complex relational dynamics between its characters, especially in the context of gender roles and societal position in a controlled hierarchy. These conflicts are espoused in Genji’s decidedly regulated associations with the other characters and in the fascinating elicitation of the characters’ psyches, as women of diverse ranks ponder their stations. The situations described, the lens into the inner thoughts of women, and the intimate relations between genders are voiced from a woman’s viewpoint and are consistent with the feminine educational opportunities, life experience, and hierarchical role codified in Heian …show more content…
The existing monogatari, most likely penned by men, pulled largely from Chinese literature. Notably, Shikabu shifts from the male viewpoint of her prince, Genji to the inner lives of the women he encounters. This seems to be in direct counterpoint to The Tosa Diary, which begins in the female voice but quickly swings to the vantage of the male governor. As the plot of The Tale of Genji progresses, the narrative turns introspective, examining the psyches of its characters, instead of event specifics, linearly moving from point to point. The characters reflect on the passage of time and season, relying on memory to illuminate their present lives through the scope of their
Detached from political conflict or economic need, the characters’ main profession is privilege. They are free to patronize the arts in a peaceful sheltered existence. The setting of the novel is the woman’s domain, but it centrally depicts the idyllic male lover (Genji), thereby inserting a man into the woman’s situation. Murasaki Shikibu presents what is thought to be an authentic assessment of sexual desire and court deception in the sequestered Heian palace. The novel portrays highly complex relational dynamics between its characters, especially in the context of gender roles and societal position in a controlled hierarchy. These conflicts are espoused in Genji’s decidedly regulated associations with the other characters and in the fascinating elicitation of the characters’ psyches, as women of diverse ranks ponder their stations. The situations described, the lens into the inner thoughts of women, and the intimate relations between genders are voiced from a woman’s viewpoint and are consistent with the feminine educational opportunities, life experience, and hierarchical role codified in Heian …show more content…
The existing monogatari, most likely penned by men, pulled largely from Chinese literature. Notably, Shikabu shifts from the male viewpoint of her prince, Genji to the inner lives of the women he encounters. This seems to be in direct counterpoint to The Tosa Diary, which begins in the female voice but quickly swings to the vantage of the male governor. As the plot of The Tale of Genji progresses, the narrative turns introspective, examining the psyches of its characters, instead of event specifics, linearly moving from point to point. The characters reflect on the passage of time and season, relying on memory to illuminate their present lives through the scope of their