Even though the narrator from Life of a Sensuous Woman by Ihara Saikaku and Du Tenth from Feng Menglong’s “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger ” are both prostitutes, their similarities end there. It is refreshing to see woman with common profession and corresponding time period have such polar perspectives on Love. In Life of a Sensuous Woman, the narrator was on a journey looking for the “right one” and essentially what is love. She has a hard time differentiating Love and Lust. Du Tenth on the other hand thought she found eternal love and was ultimately crush when li Jia sold her off like a possession at his disposal. Unlike the narrators’ passive demeanor, Du tenth was mortified stating Li has ” abandoned me and betrayed my earnest heart” and therefore threw away the jewelry bow. Even though it can be argued that it was irrational, she was deep with emotion and was a way to cope. Du tenth all though a prostitute, is affectionate and wears her emotions on her sleeve for everyone to see. She is the opposite of sensuous and died with a broken heart giving her life away saying “neither of us understands the way of sensuous love deeply enough yet” (Saikaku 594).
Assignment #2
September 19, 2015 Written by j.brito | 2 Comments
Categories: Uncategorized
2 responses so far ↓
e.rospide // Sep 19th 2015 at 11:51 am
When you state the old women had a hard time differentiating Love and Lust. I think it had to do with her being so young when she had sex, and having no one who truly love her for her. Most of the men she was with either loved her for her beauty, or for her sexual pleasuring skills. Therefore, she equated love to being pleased, or pleasing some else. The only moment I felt that she was sort of loved for who she was came in ” A teacher of Calligraphy and Manner”. The man truly loved her, although it was fostered with letter back in forth, it was the only true love she had. He was able to see past her physical attributes, and love her for her. However, she got in her own way. While, she was steadily looking for love in the wrong places, it was right there in plan sight.
JMERLE // Sep 19th 2015 at 4:17 pm
Joseph,
You make a valid distinction between the two women, and you use the text very nicely. I especially like your comment/text about the Saikaku narrator, and this might make for an interesting character study in the essay, if you like.
10/10