Life of a sensuous woman

Comment #1 – Mel

Every time that the narrator is in a new relationship that is somewhat negative or negatively affected by something, she will always try to make it positive. When the monk fell in love with her and decided to marry her for three years, she agreed to the contract. However, she didn’t like having sex with the monk and even states, “Living like this was depressing enough, but sleeping with the priest made me even sadder. It was just a job, and there was no love in it.” Eventually, the narrator changed her mindset of the relationship to a positive one and says, “Later I got used to the situation, and I even came to enjoy it.” She does this again when she was working as a calligraphy teacher. She met a man that was her customer and they eventually fell in love. When the man’s parents discovered their relationship and forbid the man to visit her, the narrator continued to write letters to the man. This shows that she wanted to make the obstacle that was affecting their relationship into something positive. It gave her the opportunity to express her love and thoughts to the man through writing. “I was so sad I wrote him every day and had the letter secretly delivered to him at home.” Her action became very positive for their relationship because she had successfully sent the message that she intended to, and the man felt her love for him.

Comment #2 – Radia

Mel mentions how the narrator is able to stay positive whenever she is thrown an obstacle. Thus, the narrator allegedly falls in love with different men. Due to her positivity and the anxious desire to find love, the narrator isn’t able to tell the difference between love and lust until it’s too late. From a young age, the narrator has been attracted to the idea of love. She explains, “Whenever I saw women and men lying together, I’d feel excited… my heart pounded.” The narrator’s idea of love is solely based off sex. Because of her ignorance of reality, she throws herself into these relationships in hopes of finding love and acceptance.  During one of her love conquests she says, “I made love with the man day and night…Gradually, as I expected, he ran dry.” Rather than an emotional connection, their relationship was based off sexual attraction. She gradually learns a relationship built like this wouldn’t last, yet she consistently places herself in situations like this. Initially, the narrator believes this is true love, but a same pattern that appears is the man becomes frail after their numerous sexual encounters.

Coment #3 – Elizaveta

I agree with both ideas. The woman is trying to see beauty and goodness in everything. The author never portrayed her in a negative way even though her jobs sometimes were not accepted by the society.  Saikaku shows perfectly her desire to find love and acceptance, and it turns a sensuous woman into a positive character.

She is very light-minded, passionate and amorous. She easily falls in love. She was nothing, but a mistress for a Lord. Her job was to bring a male heir to the house. However, she sees everything in another light. She told that “with the Lord I was fortunate. He was tender to me, and we enjoyed our lovemaking.”Also, she believes that sexual contact is one of the most critical components of healthy relationships. She thinks that it is a necessity for a human being. While she was talking about the life of a serving woman, she said, “they want to make love with a flesh-and-blood man all the more.” Moreover, it proves here belief that love takes a big part of our life, and no one should escape it.