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?
15 thoughts on “Ueda Akinari, “Bewitched””
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I believe Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after he suspects that she is a demon of some sort because he was probably looking past that and thought Manago really loved him. Since he wasn’t the favorite son he never got that love from his parent and Manago was offering this to him. After hearing that his sister and brother in law saw the good in Manago he was almost certain that her intentions were pure after all. Later on, we see how Manago would not leave Toyo-o alone and he could never get rid of her. He was very attracted to her physical appearance as well and this is what made him very attached to her as well.
People in both the 18th century and in our own day, are attracted to ghost stories or tales of the supernatural because of the idea of the unknown. Humans as a whole, always have and always will be guided and intrigued in the unknown. The curiosity and unprovable ideas are the ones that can get the human brain going most. Also, the tales of the supernatural can serve as an outlet or escape for people and common everyday lives. We are always looking for something new or different and this type of art can satisfy that desire.
The text describes Manago as ”bewitchingly voluptuous.” The use of these two words together sounded weird for about 1 second and then it made sense. Manago is bewitchingly voluptuous because as a guy myself it makes sense to see a beautiful voluptuous girl and become bewitched . Its almost like human nature I would say for any guy to want a beautiful woman, but what I believe the story is trying to say about feminine beauty is how powerful it is and that it can be good and bad. in this case, its bad and Toyo-o was vulnerable. He was so under her “spell” that he looked past the fact that he went to jail because of her. I think what this short story is trying to teach is to not to judge a woman by her looks, and also to learn from our mistakes (still going for her again after getting out of prison)
1. Toyo-o couldn’t get over Manago because he might have thought that if he leaves her side then she might harm the people around him and make their live difficult. He didn’t want his loved ones to suffer because of him. Also, he wasn’t mature enough to think rationally and deal with the situation by finding solutions for it instead he just accepted whatever she said.
First of all, Toyo-o was attracted by Manago’s beauty. It was the love at the first sight for them each other. For Toyo-o, he has never met a quite charming woman like Manago. At the same time, Manago was interested in Toyo-o ‘s sincerity and honest. Therefore, they both fell in love with each other after their first met. As the time passed, Toyo-o started suspecting that Manago’s abnormal performance like a demon that people are not able to do the same thing. Instead of getting rid of her as far as he can, Toyo-o continued to hold the belief that Manago was just a normal wife who loved him and treated him as her husband and tried her best to take good care of him in the life. Furthermore, he found that what she done was nothing harmful to him even if she was a real demon. In contrast, there was no another her in the world like her devoted whole love to him. Meanwhile, there is no doubt that Toyo-o was hooked on Manago’s stunning beauty and that is why he cannot control himself to break off their relationship tie while doubting her real identification.
3. Does “Bewitched” have anything to teach its readers? If so, what? What is Akinari’s message in this text?
What Bewitched got me thinking of was how people in relationships deal with the other persons shortcomings. He reminds us that people never change; personalities stay the same. That people in relationship stay together even if they don’t get a long with the other person because they have a belief that the other person eventually will change.
He also reminds the reader of how easy it is to fall in love with an idea of a personality rather than a actual personality. The reader is informed of Tayo-os dreams of living in Kyoto, to be involved in the intellectual world. All traits he believed Mango had.
Q#4: The text describes Manago as”bewitchingly voluptuous.” What does the character of Manago tell us about feminine beauty?
Feminine beauty equals power. Manago was so beautiful and had a nice body which was the reason why Toyo-o fell for her, or was “put under a spell”. Feminine beauty brings out the temptations, desires and lust of men. This is shown by how Toyo-o keeps accepting Manago back even though he’s suspicious of her. Toyo-o’s sister and brother in law seems to be under her spell as well – they accept her apology and pity her even though Toyo-o told them about her.
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 even after suspecting she is a demon because of his insecurities with himself. All his life his family made him feel inadequate because of his feminine qualities, making him desperate for the affection Manago shows him. When Manago shows up with all her voluptuous features, fitting Toyo-o’s fantasies of a Kyoto type girl that was infatuated with him, he could not resist. Being such an insecure man, he justified all her suspicious behaviors so he did not have to accept that there was not actually a girl as perfect as Manago for him.
While the story “Bewitched” does not explicitly teach its readers a lesson, there is one to be found within its bones. Throughout the story, Toyo-o finds himself enchanted by the looks and grace of Manago. However, he failed to recognize the true character of Manago. While she seems to be the perfect women for Toyo-o, her true character is reveals herself. Readers of this story can learn from Toyo-o’s mistake. He let himself fall into the trap of the devil. He was easily fooled by her story and charm because they satisfied his personal desires. Readers can learn from his mistakes not to become carried away by temptations. Toyo-o failed to understand that there is more to meeting a life partner than just his personal aspirations. In any relationship, there are two people with individual’s desires. Both people must meet in the middle to form a healthy relationship.
In regards to Manago saying bewitchingly voluptuous, i believe that this is a prime example of “judging a book by its cover”. We have all done this before. We tend to judge one another based on physical appearance and not the way they are on the inside. What Manago is telling us about feminine beauty, is that beauty is more about external appearance and not internal. his description of her had nothing to do with who she is, but about how she looks. Even after what Manago tells us about feminine beauty, his perception of her was not as good as he thought he was. Overall, this teaches us that its beauty is not only about the way a person looks, but also about who the person is on the inside.
Enchanting nature, adore nature and in investigation in a witch seen, it comes a period in our lives in the event that we can’t hold what in our own. Another thing to come mystically show up or secretive, appear to confound us and our capacity to think to be excessively feeble, that we don’t hold to the truth we are. His is a story Teenage irregular, a great many people but then it happens to a few people in this present reality, without hesitation. In Ueda Akinari story called “Beguiled,” the nature, of the creator as a component that the whole plot and shrouds the genuine purpose of the characters was utilized incorporates so was nature as a divider that the genuine intention the characters to each other obstructed. The entire story was in the region of Kii Miwagasaki in which a man named Oya’s no Takasuke life. He has three youngsters, two young men and a young lady who might soon enough be his successor. In spite of the fact that he is a rich man, extremely well off as the nature established in his fish business. Taro is his eldest child, who is soon to deal with the business, since he is more established than the other two. He is a genuine man, while the main young lady in the family is now hitched and lives with her significant other. The entire story will be centered around the most youthful child, whose name of Toyo-o. Not at all like his more seasoned sibling, Toyo-o is an adolescent who is not the expectation, the family.
As a cautionary tale, I believe bewitched has many lessons to teach its reader. The main lesson I feel is to not let lust guide ones path. Toyo-o coming from a modest fishermen family had been drifting a part as described. He had become an outcast to his heritage and family. By putting everything aside for the bewitched girl Toyo-o had lost sight of his goals and was driven by her beauty. He was also driven by his selfish desires as she had said she had been from Kyoto and it was his dream to go there to learn.
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?
Human beings have a natural attraction to tales of the supernatural. Tales of the supernatural offer people an escape from their own lives. It also allows people to have excitement in their lives. Supernatural stories give people endless ways to imagine how things in the story are. They sometime enable people to what to be in the story. That type of attraction is what keeps people wanting more of the tails.
The reason people are fascinated by ghost stories is because it allows us to escape reality to a world where anything is possible. This is seen more prominent in times of chaos because no one wants to focus on the horrible things going on int the world or maybe people are just unhappy with the limits they have put on themselves and would love to live vicariously through something better then themselves.
People are always attracted to tales of supernatural because it brings a sense of suspense and thinking there is greater forces in this world. It is similar to wanting another world to coexist, it stimulates the brain to thinking to a new level of things that could happen, would happen, can happen. Toyo-o continues to be involved with Manago even after suspecting she is demonic because of his point of view of his upbringing and what other people look at him as. The fact that now he has a women, he feels that he is proving them wrong in his own way.