1) Chushingura fascinated both nobles and commoners in Japan. Why do you think it appealed to two such different classes? (Name a commoner who appears in the play)
The appeal of Chushingura can be explained by looking to the contemporary happenings at the time that the play came out. It was not that long ago that the 46 retainers of Lord Asano Naganori of Ako took the head of the Lord Kira Yoshinaka in an honor killing over the death of their master. At the time they were hailed as heroes by most. They brought back the meaning of Samurai loyalty to their master, and the Samurai way. According to the preface over the years this aspect of the Samurai was lost in society. Chushingura was first performed three years after Yoshinaka’s death. This is a play that is a thinly vailed reference to the real life happenings. …show more content…
In other words exciting happenings. Chushingura brings “court” happenings down to the level of the common people. With that being said, it also gives them someone to look up to. Commoners see the inside of the doing of the upper classes, something that the non-insider commoners may have only imagined. This makes the upper classes seem more real to them instead of the almost mythical elite. The 46 ronin’s fall from their status shows that the mighty can fall. Their return to honor shows the fallen can return from disgrace. Kampei’s wife, Okaru, was one of them, a member of the common class. Through her, they have a person in the game. Brought up in poverty by her farmer parents, she had moved up into the more elite society. She is given an important role within the play. She and her parents have parts to play, and they are not brushed aside by the
The appeal of Chushingura can be explained by looking to the contemporary happenings at the time that the play came out. It was not that long ago that the 46 retainers of Lord Asano Naganori of Ako took the head of the Lord Kira Yoshinaka in an honor killing over the death of their master. At the time they were hailed as heroes by most. They brought back the meaning of Samurai loyalty to their master, and the Samurai way. According to the preface over the years this aspect of the Samurai was lost in society. Chushingura was first performed three years after Yoshinaka’s death. This is a play that is a thinly vailed reference to the real life happenings. …show more content…
In other words exciting happenings. Chushingura brings “court” happenings down to the level of the common people. With that being said, it also gives them someone to look up to. Commoners see the inside of the doing of the upper classes, something that the non-insider commoners may have only imagined. This makes the upper classes seem more real to them instead of the almost mythical elite. The 46 ronin’s fall from their status shows that the mighty can fall. Their return to honor shows the fallen can return from disgrace. Kampei’s wife, Okaru, was one of them, a member of the common class. Through her, they have a person in the game. Brought up in poverty by her farmer parents, she had moved up into the more elite society. She is given an important role within the play. She and her parents have parts to play, and they are not brushed aside by the