1. Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
2. Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?
3. Does “Bewitched” have anything to teach its readers? If so, what? What is Akinari’s message in this text?
4. The text describes Manago as”bewitchingly voluptuous.” What does the character of Manago tell us about feminine beauty?
16 thoughts on “Ueda Akinari, “Bewitched””
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“Does ‘Bewitched’ have anything to teach its readers? If so, what? What is Akinari’s message in this text?”
Be more accepting of your fate because you’re not the only person it affects. If he accepted his role as a fisherman, he never would have ran into Manago in the first place, or caused stress on his family. Then when he took the sword knowing it would be an issue, brought shame to his family, and a chunk of change to get him out of jail. When he runs away to his sister’s, first they get the priest killed in a pretty horrific manner, then gets his betrothed possessed and she dies afterwards.
Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago because his sensible thinking is overridden by her beauty. Common sense tells him to keep away but Toyo-o allows the voluptuous Manago to keep him under her spell. This “bewitching” of Toyo-o clouds his judgement and gives way only to his desire for her. To reflect on this, this shows a weakness of character on Toyo-o’s part. He lacks the maturity to say “no, this is not right” but more importantly, the discipline to commit himself to this.
1. Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago because he’s simply naive and gullible. Not only once did Manago show devilish ways and been warned , but Toyo-o being the weak man he is , he still goes forth. It’s like a child you told could not have cookies. They’ll continue to go into the cookie jar. Toyo-o is also giving into temptation because part of him believes that Manago is all he wants and is perfect, but everything we want isn’t what we need.
The text describes Manago as”bewitchingly voluptuous.” What does the character of Manago tell us about feminine beauty?
In this tale, Manago is describes as “bewitchingly voluptuous”. She is this magically beautiful character with nice assets and with no exterior flaws. Her out of this world features practically castes a love spell on Toyo-o and has him drooling over her. It is her looks that catches Toyo-o’s eyes and making it easy to manipulate him. At the end of this story we learn that looks can be deceiving and not everyone is what they appear to be. One can be beautiful in the outside but can be the complete opposite in the interior. This story teaches the readers that feminine beauty is not all a person should be interested in, but into getting to know the person from the inside out before making decisions that can cost you.
Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?
Because they allow us to escape the routine, the everyday of our lives. They transport us to places and situations where everything is possible and one can be constantly in danger. The fear of the unknown or the scare that produces the idea of dying ironically makes us feel more alive and we feel very grateful that we don’t have to go through that kind of situations in our real world.
Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
Since Toyo-o was kind of living in his dream world thinking of city (fancy) life and was inexperience, he fell for Manago’s beauty. Because of lacking confidence and manly behavior, he was easily convinced by other people. That’s why even though he knew Manago was not like regular people, he listened to his sister and married her. However, Manago’s being bewitchingly beautiful was the main reason for Toyo-o to keep falling into her trap.
1. Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
As soon as Toyo-o suspects Manago to be a demon of sorts, we would expect him to leave her immediately and stop pursuing her. However, that is not quite what happens. Rather, Toyo-o still pursues Manago, in some sort of twisted hung up way. The reason being is the Manago finally made Toyo-o feel comfortable, as his upbringing he was more of an outsider and black sheep of the family. Toyo-o felt he had a place in the world finally and that place was with Manago. Feeling that he has the best girl around as she is beautiful and voluptuous, which much matches Toyo-o’s handsomeness, Toyo-o is not willing to pass up on Manago and dismisses any doubts he may have of her.
Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago because he was dependent on his family to continue his life. Manago’s beauty and sweet talk attract him for her. He always thought stay away from her but when he goes front in her he forgot about his promise. Manago uses magic spell and that make him attract for her again and again. He was not practical, mature, and independent man. He does not own anything and his family did not trust him. Also, he cannot make his own decision. For that reason, he was looking for a beautiful woman to spend rest of his life.
Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
Toyo-o found someone he thinks he can fall in love with and see the rest of his life with. Even after suspecting that Manago is not who she is, he continues the relationship because he has found someone who makes him feel comfortable and does not set any expectations on him like his family at home does. She uses the things he likes such as the city life to connect with him more on a personal level and made him feel as if she was the one. It is hard to blame him for denying what was truly there.
Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?
I think people are attracted to supernatural stories because of the thrill, suspense, and magic that is involved. You can’t predict what will happen in these types of stories because things like magic or superpowers does not occur in real life. Seeing someone who looks just like any other normal person do incredible things like fly in midair or freeze time is very fascinating. This allows people to escape actuality and immerse themselves in their own imagination and world of possibilities.
Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon because Manago is manipulative and sly while Toyo-o is ignorant. He believes her story and reasoning of her disappearance in the house. Toyo-o, who is gullible, deems it true so he trusted her once again. To seal the deal with her, he then pledge his eternal love to Manago because of her stunning appearance. Her wits and attractiveness manipulated Toyo-o’s reasoning and she got Toyo-o to do what she wanted him to do.
The text describes Manago as”bewitchingly voluptuous.” What does the character of Manago tell us about feminine beauty?
The text seeks to tell the reader that feminine beauty is deceiving, dangerous, and ought not to be trusted. Manago, the character described as “bewitchingly voluptuous” turns out to be a ill-intentioned demon. Through a dissection of the play, we realize that Toyo-o fell for Manago primarily due to her exterior attraction and that is why he continued to return to her despite knowing within himself Manago’s ugly reality.
1. Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
In simple words, he was manipulated by Manago. His shallowness upon desire of beauty and gorgeousness which overlaps with dreaming to Kyoto life, became a weakness point of Toyo-o. Thus Manago could reach him many times becasue he cannot just forget about his desires until he actually faced the bad situation. Furthermore, I think he is not capable of looking inside of people very carefully and it is because he does not have enough experiences to work/communicate with people. All these facts brought him into manipulation by Manago.
2. Why do you think people (both in the 18th century, when Akinari was writing, and in our own day) are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural?
It attracts the reader, people love having an scape from reality and letting their imagination take part of the story. I feel like supernatural stories give us a break from what we live and know to be reality. Is a way of letting us think and fooling ourselves to believe that who knows maybe supernatural does exist…
The text describes Manago as ”bewitchingly voluptuous.” What does the character of Manago tell us about feminine beauty?
What ”bewitchingly voluptuous.” simply means that the looks of the women can put a curse on you. You’ll start falling for their requests and simply doing anything what they tell you to do. Feminine beauty could also be compared to as a spell since an attractive women could control a mans actions towards her and deny to himself that you are ONLY attracted to her beauty. Lesson = Don’t go for the pretty ones, they could ruin your life.
Why do you think Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort?
He was manipulated by Manago. Toyo-o’s weakness made it easy for Manago to reach him. Toyo-o also had no experience so it was extremely simple for Manago to manipulate him.