In time the little boy went to join his father in the palace. He was turning out to be so handsome that he hardly seemed of this world at all, and for the Emperor this aroused a certain dread. The next spring, when he was to designate the Heir Apparent, he longed to pass over his elder son in favor of his younger, but since the younger lacked support and since in any case the world at large would never accept such a choice, he desisted for the boy’s sake and kept his desire to himself. “He could hardly go that far,” people assured one another, “no matter how devoted to him he may be.” The Kokiden Consort was relieved. (Tale of Genji page 9)
This passage comes from the first chapter of the book after the death of Genji’s mother. I chose this passage because I thought it was an interesting insight to the culture of the time. When it’s mentioned that the emperor developed a “certain dread” it is a cultural reference to “people believing that supernatural powers coveted unusually beautiful people and tole them.” Another reference would be the emperor not having the ability to name Genji as his heir. It must feel horrible to be the man in power yet in some cases have no power.
My question being that with all these cultural references in the Tale of Genji, how do you perceive the culture of the time.
