The narrator has been through many hardships with love. The love deprivation that the narrator experiences has forced her to fall in love with lust. For instance, when being the mistress of a Domain Lord, the narrator felt “fortunate” (597). However, it was a short lived feeling. The narrator had it all, but the lack of sexual activity and affection has outweighed the luxury of being the mistress of a lord. Then the narrator becomes the sexual servant of a monk whom she despised working for. Yet, she soon fell in love with the idea of lusting for him: ” Later I got used to the situation, and I even came to enjoy it” (601). It is as if the narrator clings on to these men, in search for the satisfaction love, where it does not exist. The relationships that the narrator has with all men is temporary and meaningless; it is strictly business.
-Rosshelle Munoz
Hi,
I agree with your conclusion that her relationships with the men she meets are very short lasting and doesn’t have much meaning other than mere physical connections and satisfactions. It’s interesting how you pointed out her quick adjustment in attitude towards the priest. I feel that this is one of the foundations that Saikaku has based this story on about how women generally change their mind within a relatively short period of time. In the story, after the solider has been killed the narrator was able to walk out of her misery very quickly. Then Saikaku writes as a man through a woman’s point of view, “I completely forgot about that man. It’s amazing how quickly a woman’s mind can change.” This is interesting in the sense that it makes me wonder about his justification for this statement, whether it’s an opinion or generalization from experience.
– Chi Z. (Post 2)
I think that Crystal’s point about Saikaku highlighting the ephemerality with which women look upon men being a function of his male perspective is really insightful. Upon reading Life of the Sensuous Woman for the first time, I had not even begun to consider that. The narrator’s attitude towards men seems to be shaped largely by both her desire for sexual companionship and a slew of romantic misfortunes. These attitudes change throughout her personal journey, and her love for sexual interactions is sometimes tested by the unfortunate endings to some of those same interactions, yet she cannot seem to shake the compulsion, to her own detriment. This changing attitude is reflected in the narrator’s lamenting that “…a man who’s born sexually weak is a very sad thing for a woman”, a clear commentary on the lack of power a woman has within the relationship. Yet, in spite of that realization, the narrator appears to hunger for more, and later states of her desire for the priest, “I found myself waiting up late, wishing he would come back”. The narrator’s desire for companionship appears to override the realization that the companionship desired is actually a one sided arrangement, in which the narrator is ultimately powerless, at the mercy of whichever man she currently finds herself with.
The way she treats the relationship with men, the feeling she gives off is all based on her fantasy. When her fantasy contains any flaws, she tends to run away from it. In the beginning, “nothing excites me” with the priest however she got used to it. She started craving for him, not just sexually, and knows exactly when not to interfere. She felt like everything was right because “I became bolder” – she didn’t even try walking out when the door is unlocked. But after she listened to the old lady’s story, “I was completely shaken”. She realized her fantasy is ruined and it’s no longer the love she wants and again, she ran away. “I trusted him and told him everything”. The narrator tends to get attached to others quite often and after exchanging letters, she found another man. “Money’s out of the question”. She ran away again because “I decided to look somewhere else”. It’s as if she’s just doing things according to her imagination and when things doesn’t go out the way she’s planning, she leaves. It’s like to her, men is just an option – a toy. “I completely forgot about that man. It’s amazing how quickly a woman’s mind can change.” I agree with Chi’s comment towards Rosshelle’s post. How he pointed out Saikaku writes out his own point of view, I never realized it. I also agree with Johnathan how she just quickly brush things off just like how I stated. She craving for more because she’s trying to find the one who can live up her fantasy.
Crystal Wong
I agree with you about her relationships being temporary and meaningless with the men and that it is strictly business. But I don’t think it was love deprivation that made her fall for lust.Mostly because she was only 11 when she went after the samurai and I believe 14 when she went to the emperor. She had been in lustful relations for such a long time that I think she just saw it as something she could do for a living because she enjoyed it and got good money for it. So that’s why I agree with you about it being strictly business for her.
Myra K.
Although i completely agree with you conclusion, the way you got there doesn’t make much sense to me. Of course at first her main motive was lust; which you made a fairly good conclusion about – its sweet but short. But as time went by she transitioned from actually enjoying what she was doing to a more business like attitude towards it. Towards the end of the novel she made pleasing men her profession, she did it for a living to survive and get by. Because of this, her motive shifted from lust to survival and the scenario that you referenced with the old priest who had her locked up. She wasn’t sexually appealed to him, quite the opposite actually, but she learned to love him and lust him only for the sake of survival.