Lust of a White Serpent - Essay Example

Your full April 3, “The Lust of the White Serpent” Women have often been shown in the embodiment of serpent in Chinese and Japanese literature. In “Lust of the White Serpent”, a white snake takes the form of a woman who seduces a young man. She is exorcised in the end. The positive aspect about the white serpent here is the symbolization of devotion, but this devotion and love goes to such an extent that it becomes a source of pain for the forbearer. The exorcism of the white serpent shows that the woman always has to sacrifice, no matter how much devoted she is to the man she loves.

The sacrificial nature of woman is the depiction of the true love that she possesses, and this comes out as a positive aspect of the white serpent in the story. Stories like these and the portrayal of the female gender in such ways led to feminist theories, regarding why women should be treated in an inferior way. Another positive aspect of the white serpent is the stubbornness to achieve whatever she desired and whoever she loved. The character shows determination of fierce nature and the desire to achieve to an unnatural extent.

The reader actually gets impressed by the white serpent, and its nature of seduction, romance, ferocity, devotion, and finally the sacrifice. No matter how black and negative the portrayal of the character of the white serpent is, its properties as mentioned earlier cannot be denied and must be regarded as its positive aspects.