I wanted to talk about a horror story written By Akinari in the 17th century. I know its quite a jump back, but it’s one of my favorite stories that I read for class this year. The question of who is the bewitched and who is the bewitch-er makes it really interesting to me.
In “Bewitched” the two main characters are a woman named Manago and a man named Toyo-o. Manago is actually a youkai (a type of spirit or monster), a white snake youkai to be precise. It might be because I don’t believe in the Shinto beliefs as deeply as Japanese people did at the time, that I don’t find the story scary. This lack of fear allows me to analyze the characters in a way different than those before me.
At the start of the story It is Toyo-o who initiates the interaction with Manago. All she did was be seen; there is no evidence to suggest that she is bewitching him in that way. However, Toyo-o does do his utmost to keep her near and creates an excuse to see her again. He is the one consciously putting in effort to bewitch Manago, and it works. Then when Manago reveals her true self she is rejected, and she has to chase him across the land and ingratiate herself to his family to be accepted. They even spend a year together, during which Manago is the perfect and beautiful wife.
Without a single shred of evidence to suggest Manago’s intentions are ill, he rejects her again. He does this because some stranger tells him that she is a dangerous being. As a result he flees again and ends up marrying another girl. Skip ahead and we find out Manago is a white snake capable of killing humans with her breath. Keep in mind that she has always been able to do this, but she chose not to until her love begins rejecting her. In the end Toyo-o receives the help of another to seal her away.
This makes me think that the one who is truly bewitched by love is Manago. She is driven mad by her love for Toyo-o and his rejection of her. He, on the other hand, seems perfectly rational and safe. In fact he gets away scott-free for breaking off a relationship with a perfect woman and causing a mess for his family and his second wife’s family. It even says at the end that he lives a perfectly healthy life after the ordeal. I associated this with the fact that the white snake symbolizes longevity and health in Japanese culture.
Basically the story made me think that Manago was bewitched by Toyo-o and fell deeply in love with him. However, his irrational hate for her drove her to haunting him and killing a man. In the end she never did stop loving him; I interpreted his healthy life as her (being a white snake youkai) giving him his protection. I also want to note that the word youkai is a slightly neutral term; it is a term used to describe all manner of spirits (there are good and bad spirits). It just made me think of how unfair society was and is towards women compared to men. After all, a woman devoted to her husband was punished with death, while the unfaithful man gets away better off than he started.
In this photo you can see a small shrine for a white snake god or spirit. These can be found in many homes or in larger shrines (run by Shinto priests) ; they are use to pray to and lay offerings in hopes of receiving a blessing of good health.