The role of women was basically to be a housewife. Tending to the children and husbands needs. Then teaching her daughter how to do the same, and son to be man of the house. There weren’t allowed education or to work. They were basically seen as tools that are to be used to keep life in order.

Women weren’t shown the appreciation and respect they deserve, without them, the men who believe themselves to be so superior would probably self destruct. A woman enhances a man’s life.

Even now, although women have more rights and freedom, they are still objectified and not completely respected or appreciated.

 

Akinari not not mentioning the names of the women in his story slightly suggests that there’s an unimportance for women. Or he wanted to use this as a device to hint to readers that Tomiko was something different than the other women.

I wasn’t able to come across a closely related video, apart from the one we viewed in class. But this video is partly accurate in showing the moments leading up to Manago being revealed as a demon, then having to suffer the consequences. She still tried to convince people that she was not evil.

The only difference really, is in “Bewitched” there was no one vouching for Manago or Maroya to be forgiven. And Manago definitely was not asking for forgiveness. She continued on, unabashedly, with her evil. “What manner of grudge are you holding against me, asking others to put me out of the way? If you persist in trying to eliminate me, I shall be forced to be cruel not only to you but also to all the people of this community. Be happy over my undeviating love for you. And never, never transfer your love to another woman.” As if she were not a demon.

Deception was a major theme in “Bewitched” as well as in the story I chose to connect it to, “Barrel Maker Brim Full of Love”.

———————————————–

“He is not one of us”, Manago will never be a real human, thereby resulting in her constantly having to adapt to different forms so that she can blend in and not be noticed. But really, it puts people on alert and eventually will cause a stirrup. Then some type of destruction will take place. As in the video all the animals gathered around to hear the judgement of Kuvo, for being the one that was supposed to assassinate Simba, and take over the throne,   the judgement was one the other animals obviously agreed with (except for one) and ran him out of the village.

 

& in the story..

While they were visiting Mount Yoshino.

“Manago and Maroya deliberately turned their backs on him and pretended not to have seen him standing there. But the old man had already recognized them. ‘You devils!’ He grumbled. ‘Again you are bewitching and deceiving human beings. How can you assume that shape and form before my very eyes!'”

She had bewitched someone before, this time she was caught and revealed during her attempt to bewitch Toyo-o. Which lead to her death.

 

S/N: It’s, The Lion King. Who doesn’t love The Lion King. Can’t go wrong with it.

The names of women are not revealed in the story. So it was strange when Shöji’s daughter’s name was said. I thought I was on to somethin noticing that Toyo-o’s mother, sister and Taros’ wife’s names weren’t given. Ueda even gave Toyo-o’s sisters’ husband a brief description, but not the other women. But, then her name was said and I thought my discovery was false Manago and Maroya are the only females whose names are known from the beginning. Because they’re actually evil creatures. Only after the marriage proposal between Toyo-o and the daughter is accepted is Tomiko’s name revealed. Because she was Toyo-o’s prospective wife, Manago took Tomiko’s body as her next human form.

Ueda uses nature, water and weather. When Manago appears or disappears, stormy weather happens.

Toyo-o and Manago met during a rain downpour.

After she is revealed as being a demon while at Mount Yoshino..

“Manago and Maroya stood up in a frenzy of confusion and plunged into the waterfall. The swirling waters suddenly shot up into the air and the two vanished from sight. At the same time a jet black cloud appeared over the spot like a splash of ink, and rain fell in a torrent, rattling noisily like bamboo slats.” 

This is very intense.

When they come to look for her at her home…

“As Kumagashi approached to sieze her, there was a sudden clap of thunder, so loud that it seemed as though the earth had been split apart…… The woman had disappeared. Nor was there any indication of where she might have gone.”

I choose this image because…

When I hear the word ‘bewitched’ I think about being possessed and being trapped, by uncontrollable forces.Trying to fight and defeat those forces. I could link that to depression. (probably because I’m a psych major) But, there were a couple depressing moments in the story.

The death of Shöjis’ innocent daughter. Which he should totally feel was his fault. I don’t know about other people, but I certainly would not send my child off to get married to someone who was being followed by a devil. Toyo-o thought many times about dying, at one point he already felt like he was dead. “Toyo-o, shivering from head to toe, felt as though he were about to die. In fact, he was feeling more dead than alive…”(p.645) His fear and despair started to overcome him.
Toyo-o, Tomiko, and, I make the assumption that Maroya as well, suffered from entrapment by Manago. Her spirit took over the body of Tomiko, in the end she died from the supernatural inhabitance of her body. Depressing.
“& try to avoid me, vengeance is sure to overtake you. No matter how tall the mountains of Kii may be, it is easy for me to splatter your blood from the highest peak to the valley below. And I warn you, don’t ever try to do away with yourself.” Manago became very leacherous and obsessive. Every time Toyo-o attempted to escape, she just turned into another form and slithered her way back into his life. She was relentless in keeping Toyo-o as her lover, and getting him to love her back.
That is sure to instill fear into someone’s heart, and have them give in to your demands. Which at some point Toyo-o did, but was talked out of it by Shöji.
Maroya, could have once been good but fell victim to Manago’s evilness and now belongs to her forever. Depressing. I say this because Maroya was portrayed as more of a pawn in her scheme. She was labeled as her maid, and when they were captured she was only a foot long. Which could mean she didn’t possess as much evil as Manago.

 

I like that in the image, there is light. Which means there’s hope. Although it is blocked by bars. Those bars being mostly made from self-doubt and self-pity.

There is a way out, and you can see the way out, you just can’t figure out how to get out. Or you’re just so used to suffering and feeling hopeless that you begin to believe that there’s no point in escaping and finding the way out. For Toyo-o he was ready to give up and just die. But the stubbornness of the others wouldn’t allow for it.

 

There was a lot of manipulation and trickery in both of these texts. And coerced marriages, which started off well but ended horribly.

Old nanny and Manago set ‘traps’ to extort love from their victims.

Manago and Toyo-o coincidently met while taking shelter during a rain storm. Manago got Toyo-o to let her borrow his umbrella, resulting in them having to meet again, and have him grow more attracted and interested in her. He couldn’t even sleep well that night, and dreamt of her. She had already had a hold on him.

“The shrewd old hen certainly knew her business when it came to promoting a love affair”
She barged into the home of Osen and put on this whole frantic, dramatic performance which led the people in the house to believe that there was a boy who was so miserably in love with Osen and if his desires weren’t met he would die in a week and come back to haunt everyone in the house. She was successful in her mischief. “Osen is old enough to get married now, and we should keep this man in mind if he has a suitable livelihood.”(Barrel Maker..)

————-Manipulation————

“A woman in my miserable situation should perhaps drown herself in the sea. But if I did, it would weigh heavily on your heart and that, too, would be a serious crime. What I have said is the truth, but please dismiss it as the foolish talk of a drunken woman and forget about it”p.636 (Manago, Bewitched) To which Toyo-o relented and became open to her proposal.

“It is because of you that I am about to die before my time, and since I have no daughter of my own, you must pray for me when I am gone.” This lead Osen to feel pity and become more open to the idea of meeting this boy who was so madly in love with her. “If you should reject him now, my resentment will fall on no one but you. She spoke with all the cleverness that years of wide experience had given her.” She had Osen where she wanted her, and had to ensure she kept her there. By feeling guilt and a little fear. (Old Nanny, Barrel Maker..)

We can look at Manago and Old Nanny as being the same, and Maroya and Osen.

————–Coercion————-

“Pitying him on the one hand, and dreading the evil tenacity of that devil on the other, they decided that they should not let him remain a bachelor any longer and discussed plans to get a wife for him” (Bewitched) 

 

I don’t see how sending him into the arms of another woman was supposed to help or fix his situation. If anything it could have caused a whole nother situation. They weren’t in love, they barely knew each other.

 

” ‘Osen,’ the old crone said craftily,  has told me several times that she would not have s hand laborer for a husband, and she isn’t sure whether or not the cooper will do. But it seems to me that she is being unnecessarily choosy. If, in spite of all, they can just get along in life together, she should be satisfied.’ ….. Having heard the old Nanny’s ideas on the subject, Osen’s employers sent for the cooper and concluded a marriage contract with him.” 

“Toyo-o, the third child, was a handsome youth with a predilection for learning and cultural pursuits typical of life in Kyoto, the nation’s capital. He had no desire or inclination to devote his time and efforts to the family occupation. Because of this, Toyo-o was something of a problem to his father. Pondering his wayward son’s future welfare…… But then Toyo-o was the sort who, once he came into possession of money, would soon be deceived and robbed of all that he owned.”

 

I am analyzing this passage because I feel it introduces and depicts the character to be the type that would suffer the fate that he did. The passage sets the tone for the reader that Toyo-o would end up going through something that he wouldn’t want to, and he’d be a victim to one of life’s crazy occurrences. Firstly, a good looking person whose family has their own business and is wealthy automatically makes them a person of interest and desire. Probably since the beginning of time. Although, a lot of people who are actually genuine and good-hearted look for more than just looks and money. In this case, unfortunately, his ‘admirer’ was a serpent/spirit with wicked desires. His handsomeness and his family’s prosperity makes having an attraction to him super easy and worthwhile.

Secondly, he was inquisitive, as he had been described as having “a predilection for learning”, hinting that whatever seemed worth the exploration to him, he would go forth with it. So it’s very much expected that he’d find interest in a beautiful woman and whatever she claimed she had to offer. “Curiosity killed the cat, but the cat died smiling.”

He was also said to be wayward. Stubbornness and being erratic is sure to get you into trouble, a lot. But not all the time. Being strong-willed, which to me is part of being stubborn, is a good thing. It’s good to have a mind of your own. You’re able to think in depth about certain things. On page 635, “Toyo-o was racked with doubts and suspicion. Can I still be dreaming, and will it soon come to an end? All this, however, seemed to be real enough. Still, it was all so mysterious that he could not fathom it.” He had his doubts, I guess he was able to sense something wasn’t right. He should have left right away. He also didn’t accept Manago’s proposal right away, he thought about how he would not be able to support her, because he lives off his parents and he had to discuss this with them first. Some young men would be selfish and foolish and rush to get married without thinking about the things that come with it.

{ Like for me, I’ve been called stubborn all my life. Up until a couple years ago I never understood why. Like I would go ahead and do something even though I personally tell myself that I shouldn’t, simply because I wanted to do it before I figured out that it was a bad idea. I just have to make sure that I was right, despite the consequences. Not very smart. But they’re experiences I could include in my book. Like Toyo-o’s experience, definitely one to write about.}

Most importantly, his father says he would be “deceived and robbed of all that he owned”, showing that Toyo-o was vulnerable and gullible. Making him the perfect target. One that no evil creature would be able to resist. It makes sense that a beautiful woman would be able to easily enter his life and does as she pleases with him.