Women's Role in Heian Japan in Tale of Genji - Essay Example

December 07, Women's Role in Heian Japan in Tale of Genji At first glance, Heian Japanese society appears to have been one that was dominated very much by men. Men held all of the important posts in government and basically ran everything. Because of this, it might be supposed that literature from the time period always shows men to be right and women to follow them without any questions. However, in part due to the fact that women wrote many popular works of literature, that is not necessarily the case. Beyond just that, it is clear that while men may have dominated politically, their relationships with women were judged by others, and played an important role in their success. In many cases, women even dictated the course of events. A close examination of Kiritsubo, Genji’s mother, in A Tale of Genji shows that contrary to expectations, women in Heian Japan played a more active role in society than their status would lead modern interpreters of Japanese history to suspect based on historical accounts. When looking at Japanese history in the Heian period, it seems as though men were the only important people. Despite earlier female sovereigns, by the Heian period “the imperial government structured itself around male sovereigns … [and] women were excluded not just from rule, but also from the bureaucracy,” as men held all political posts (Sanae & Watanabe 15). This influence and dominance of women can be seen in the very early chapters of the Kojiki. When Izanami speaks first in the mating ritual, their children are “not good” (Philippi, 52). This suggests that men were supposed to be the ones in charge, who decided what to do and when, and that women were supposed to simply follow what the men said. The mating ritual in the Kojiki is even confirmed by the main gods in the plain of heaven, so that it would seem to be an unshakeable law of reality. However, despite the trappings of a male-dominated society, women actually played many important roles. Chief among these was literature. As women could not take direct roles in politics, and could not learn Chinese, they had “to express themselves in the vernacular, and ... became the greatest writers of prose literature in the Heian period” (Varley 63). However, even in politics, women were very important. This can be seen in the fact that the offspring of emperors “were reared in the mansions of the maternal relatives” (Varley 57), and is one reason the Fujiwara regents gained so much political power, as the maternal relatives of emperors were almost all Fujiwara women. Indeed, the Fujiwara's use of the political power of women even extended to the palace itself. Because “the quarters of sisters or daughters serving at the palace often became the offices of noblemen,” Fujiwara nobles were able to take advantage of emperor's mothers and wives by carrying out their business close to the center of power (Sanae & Watanabe 26). Although the words of historians from history books are a good indication, looking at the works of literature belonging to a people can really drive home how they lived, and how they perceived themselves. In the case of Heian Japan, since women wrote most of the major works of prose literature, and since most of these took the form of diaries or political intrigues, it is possible to get a very detailed view of how politics worked, and what roles women played in society. In The Tale of Genji, women obviously play a very important part of the story. In fact some scholars even suggest that they are the focus in the story altogether, instead of Genji (Tyler, “Marriage”). In addition to just being important romantic interests for the title character, though, the women characters in Tale of Genji played other, more subtle roles. An examination of how women and men interact in the tale will show that things are not as cut and dry as the earliest chapters of the Kojiki, and most historical accounts of government in the Heian period in Japan, suggest. The woman in Tale of Genji who most clearly embodies the power of women in Heian Japan is Genji’s mother, Kiritsubo. It is fitting that although she is only in the book for a very short amount of time, her influence is as far-reaching as it is. The way people treat her and her son shows that far from being entirely male-dominated, women actually played an important role in the politics of Heian Japan, even if it was not a direct one. In the case of Kiritsubo, her influence is important for the whole plot of the novel, as she is Genji’s mother and as such the reason why he cannot be appointed the throne’s heir despite “his extraordinary gifts” (Tyler, “Rivalry” 253). In this way we can see how a woman’s social status can actually affect the social status of men, so that women did indeed affect politics. One of the most telling aspects of the relationship between Kiritsubo and the emperor is the effect that his doting on her had on the heir to the throne’s mother as well as others. This is clear from the very first page of the book, which sets up that she was “of no very great rank” but “enjoyed exceptional favor,” and that this “stirred up feeling against her” as well as affecting her health and leading to her eventual death (Murasaki 3). In fact, this also causes a lot of political stress and “intense anxiety and political discontent at court,” so that who a man was involved with had an effect on politics that way as well (Tyler, “Marriage”). Kiritsubo also continues to affect Genji’s social status long after her death, as the main plot of the book is really his trying to succeed despite the handicap of his mother’s lineage. Much of this is present in the book’s first chapter, the only chapter where she is explicitly mentioned. Right away, the emperor is so impressed with his favorite woman’s child that he really wanted Genji to take the throne. This is clear from how he treats Genji, giving him ceremonies “as impressive as his firstborn’s” (Murasaki 4) and later on even taking care that his coming of age ceremony does not “seem less impressive than the one for the Heir Apparent” (Murasaki 15). Throughout, the tale reminds us that the reason the emperor does this is not entirely out of love for his second son, but because he reminds him of Kiritsubo, who has died. The narrator suggests that it is because the emperor “must have had a deep bond with her in past lives” (Murasaki 3). The heir apparent’s mother continually takes offense at how the new son is treated, even fearing that he will become the new heir apparent instead of her own son (Tyler, “Marriage”). This fear is realistic, because the emperor himself “longed to pass over his elder son in favor of his younger” but cannot do it due to the lack of support and because Genji’s mother’s status would make it so that “the world at large would never accept such a choice” (Murasaki 12). Another female character also has a very important effect on the plot of the tale, as she is directly responsible for Genji’s fall from power towards the end of the story. This character is the Rokujo lady, who Genji has a relationship with but whom he treats poorly. However, because of her high social status, “Rokujo is far too great a lady for Genji to treat in this manner” (Tyler, “Marriage”), and his making light of their relationship by refusing to publicly acknowledge it leads to his downfall in later parts of the book. Of course, with the Rokujo lady it is not possible to read a directly realistic effect as it is with Genji’s mother Kiritsubo. In fact, her direct role in the book does not take place until long after she has died, so the reader must take into account that what seems like a supernatural happening in her spirit tormenting those Genji loves is actually a metaphorical reading of women’s power. However, as Genji himself says, the way he treated her was “wanton” (Mursakai, 294), so much so that it was her “living spirit” who attacked Genji’s first wife and killed her (Tyler, “Rivalry” 273). At the same time, after her death Rokujo’s spirit becomes even more powerful and almost kills his wife Murasaki (Tyler, “Rivalry” 274). Since spirit possession is mentioned several times throughout Tale of Genji, it seems apparent that it was not treated with much surprised by those living at that time, but may have been interpreted as just another way women can influence politics. However, even if we get rid of that idea as ridiculous, it is possible for us to read the Rokujo woman’s vengeful spirit as a metaphor for the kind of power women had in Heian Japan. Since Genji wronged her so much that she died, and since she was in a relatively good position in society, it makes sense that she would have an effect on his overall fortunes to such a degree that he would lose his power and end up as a sort of tragic figure, even though throughout the book so far he has been regarded as successful. The cases of Kiritsubo and the Rokujo lady make it very clear that women in Heian Japan, although they may have seemed powerless, actually were not. Even though women could not directly affect politics very often through taking control of the government in their own hands, it is still true that women, especially through their relationships with men, actually were able to have a big effect on politics. When looking at Heian Japan through works of literature like Tale of Genji, it is clear that politics at the time was not male-dominated, but a complicated balance of power between men and women, where men ruled openly but women often did have control of some events. Indirectly, women played roles of equal importance in Heian Japanese politics through their husbands, and also through the way their social status affected the possibilities open to any offspring they might have. Works Cited Philippi, Donald, trans. The Kojiki. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1969. Print. Sanake, Futsuko and Takeshi Watanabe. “From Female Sovereign to Mother of the Nation: Women and Government in the Heian Period.” Heian Japan: Centers and Peripheries. Mikael Adolphson, Edward Kamens, and Stacie Matsumoto, eds. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press, 2007. Shikibu, Murasaki. Tale of Genji. Trans. Royall Tyler. New York: Viking, 2001. Print. Tyler, Royall. “Rivalry, Triumph, Folly, Revenge: A Plot Line through 'The Tale of Genji'.” Journal of Japanese Studies 29.2 (2003): 251-287. Print. ---. “Marriage, Rank and Rape in The Tale of Genji.” Intersections: Gender History and Culture in the Asian Context 7(2002). Web. Dec. 6, 2012. Varley, Paul. Japanese Culture, 4th ed. Honolulu, HI, USA: University of Hawaii Press, 2000. Print. Read More