— Abdulla Al Sudman
“Bewitched,” by Ueda Akinari, is an interesting piece of literature for me because it really touches upon something much deeper than a man’s attraction to beauty, instead on how beauty, and as an extension women, are perceived by people. This is a “Great Work” because it illustrates how people thought and may still think today. The foundation of this writing is about a guy who is too weak so he listens to everything a woman says just because she’s beautiful. This is something that’s always showcased in the media as if being beautiful is a bad thing. These people are dangerous and we should be wary of them. This perception of women has existed forever or at least it seems that way. I’m not sure if this is specifically an Asian thing but in the society that I was raised in, I always heard about situations like this. The idea is that men will give up everything when a woman enters their life. Basically, you allow this lady to control everything in your life and you don’t care about anything else. They will soil your family relationships and keep a firm grip on you so she is the only one who is important. I’ve even heard my family members saying things like “he is good now but wait until he gets married and then we’ll see.” And in all honesty, I have witnessed guys that got married and then became a completely different person because of their wives but I don’t think that a women thing, I think that what happens when a weak person gets married with a controlling one. This exact same thing happens visa versa but then it is not looked at as a problem but just men being men. I don’t think this writing is bad for illustrating this perspective but instead, that’s what I think makes it interesting. I am able to connect with it more hence get a better understanding of the text as a whole.
