While both Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman and Feng Menglong’s Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger both feature female protagonist as courtesans throughout the stories, the portrayal of these women and the societal structures surrounding them differ. You can draw a connection between both storylines that they both emphasize the idea of the objectification of women, love, power, wealth and had significant effects on men. But how they objectify these each throughout vastly differ.
In Life of a Sensuous Woman, an idealistic social standard was portrayed that women that are born into a middle or lower class can sell their bodies and it is ok with society. “Saikaku exposes the unsavory underside of the lives of the privileged classes of society, including domain lords, greedy monks, presumptuous samurai, and rich merchants” (592) …show more content…
In Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger, higher class men were looked down upon when paying for courtesans, and could have never brought one around the family like they did the Sensuous Woman. Du Tenth also felt the betrayal and was very much in love and couldn’t bear getting sold to another man so she took her own life. Du Tenth also had a Madam in charge of her lifestyle where the old woman did not throughout her life as she was in charge and made her own choices. Both stories feature females as courtesans throughout but they contrast as for how they are portrayed by societal standards by their work. Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box was more about money and love and how status triumphed any kind of love or relationship. Life of a Sensuous Woman is about the location and beauty of the women where they hopefully receive a route to wealth
In Life of a Sensuous Woman, an idealistic social standard was portrayed that women that are born into a middle or lower class can sell their bodies and it is ok with society. “Saikaku exposes the unsavory underside of the lives of the privileged classes of society, including domain lords, greedy monks, presumptuous samurai, and rich merchants” (592) …show more content…
In Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger, higher class men were looked down upon when paying for courtesans, and could have never brought one around the family like they did the Sensuous Woman. Du Tenth also felt the betrayal and was very much in love and couldn’t bear getting sold to another man so she took her own life. Du Tenth also had a Madam in charge of her lifestyle where the old woman did not throughout her life as she was in charge and made her own choices. Both stories feature females as courtesans throughout but they contrast as for how they are portrayed by societal standards by their work. Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box was more about money and love and how status triumphed any kind of love or relationship. Life of a Sensuous Woman is about the location and beauty of the women where they hopefully receive a route to wealth