The Tale of Kiu by Nguyen Du - Book Report/Review Example

Immorality in the tales of Kieu A moral act relates to wrong or right in a human behavior. Morality is what one thinks to be good and immorality is what is portrayed to be wrong in accordance to the set standards in a social set up. In this play there is morality well spelt out by different character. The main propeller of immorality is the main character but in this paper I will talk about Thuc. The author portrays him to be well educated and bred but practices both immoral act acts at the start of the play but later changes. He contradicts his position of morality as at one point he is immoral and some other point he is moral. The character Thuc Ky Tam portrays the theme of immorality in ‘the tales of Kieu’. It is evident throughout the old story narrated in the poem. Thuc Ky Tam is at first introduced in the story to be the top manager of a brothel. As known to the public at large, brothels are place where immorality is practiced at its highest levels. For such a person to be in charge of a brothel, more at the time this poem was publicized, he had to be immoral. In spite of Thuc Ky Tam’s actions later in the story, he carries on the shameful deeds of individuals who maintained visiting the brothel. Thuc is one person who was well bred and educated and was supposed to defend women rather than indulging in immoral acts with them. This defilement act portrays the character of Thuc to be obviously immoral man. The family of Thuc can be described to be well bred and well to do as they had a trading shop. Thuc at his early ages was a man of passion as sings of Kieu’s beauty from the moment he saw her. He made it his initiative to persuade and make her fall in love with him for which he accomplished (Nguyen, pp.69). He first saw Kieu in the brothel at her place of work and where Thuc was a manager. They went on to see each other on many instances and their relationship looked to be more intimate than being casual. Visible closeness existed between the two that portrayed to true lovers. Thuc expressed his emotions to Kieu who answered back by professing her love to him. Nevertheless, Kieu’s current and past job was a stumbling block as she knew it could not be ignored. Thuc was a married man and this was a challenge to their relationship with Kieu as they could not get into a union of marriage. It also barred them from carrying out their relationship outside the brothel. Kiev talked about the wife of Thuc, "But if the lady lords over you, I shall be tossed to her, your lioness" This did not shake Thuc as their situations that grew worse rather made them stronger in love. The character of Thuc makes a turn at this juncture when what he feels for Kieu makes him liberate move away form the brothel. Thuc does this by paying Dame Tu, madam at the brothel which showed that he held to his words by honoring his promise. Kiev and Thuc continued in their relationship as married partners with Thuc looking after his wife and life became enjoyable. This is contrary to one’s expectation of an affair between a man who was frequent in brothels and a prostitute. One’s expectation may be that the two would at one time renounce the life they live and turn into a new leaf. Nevertheless, their relationship looked so comfortable and normal that there could be an end. The character of Thuc transforms to man of good deeds and one may attempt to deliver him from his past sins of prostitution and frequenting brothels. His father who has been away is responsible for stereotyping the play in this love story of Thuc and Kieu. He warns them that Thuc should take Kieu back to where she worked as a prostitute or judgment awaits them for making a mistake of living together while Thuc was still in another union. The two opted for the worse by waiting for the judgment as they continued to live together. What trouble his father was that Thuc had chosen a prostitute for a wife and this tarnished the family name. Thuc and Kieu face judgment and at the start, the case was against Kieu who had broken a union of Thuc and Miss Hoan. Nevertheless, the scenario takes a turn when Thuc takes the stand and confess to be truly in love with Kieu. The author alters Thuc’s character again as he was portrayed as a man who was never satisfied by the wife and so he was frequent in brothels. This time his mind was with Kieu and looked very comfortable in this relationship. Thuc pleads for respect for their love and in return he is honored by the judge to go ahead and wed Kieu. For a frequenter of brothels, Thuc should have been brave and taken care of his territory. However, it is not he case in his relationship with Hoan .Thuc lives for a year with Kiev and during this period he does not pay a visit to his wife or spit a word on his relations with Kieu. Kieu forces him to tell his wife of their relations and plans for marriage. He goes but his wife had plans on the ground to have them punished for their disrespect. Thuc does not tell Hoan anything about Kieu and thinks that she is not aware of his actions. She goes ahead and kidnap Kieu and making sure that she goes through a hell of torture before letting her back to Thuc. Thuc had sought the help of a spiritual man who search for Kieu in the spiritual world not knowing that his wife had taken Kieu hostage. Thuc is one that he would be expected to be. He has no strength and wisdom to maintain his position at the sight of Miss Hoan. He sends Kieu to tell Miss Hoan of their relationship but pants when he gets closer to her. He lives a terrible life as he is in silence for absence of Kieu in his entire life although he would still disagree that he had another wife. The character of Thuc transforms from how he was introduced as the story went on. He takes immoral and moral standings in the play, although morality has been portrayed more than his immoral acts when accompanied by Kieu. Works cited Du, Nguyen. The Tale of Kieu, Trans. Huynh Sanh Thong. Yale: Yale University, 1983. Edited by Hoi Yan Ko Read More