Reading Response - Assignment Example

Bridal Du in The Peony Pavilion The Peony Pavilion is a Chinese play written by Xianzu Tang and was first performed in 1598. The play I s a long one and consists of fifty five scenes that revolves around the life of Tu Li-niang who is a daughter to a high profile individual from southern Kiangsi. Critics have viewed this play as to be the Chinese version of the Romeo and Juliet play because they both shared the theme of a hero and a heroine in the context of pursuing genuine love to the point of the death sacrifice.

Bridal Du also known as Du Liang is the young heroine in The Peony Pavilion who overcomes all odds that were placed before her in order for her to obtain the love that she desired. In her dream in the garden, she meets Liu Mengmei and their love story begins there but the only hurdle that they faced was that Liu, the young scholar was a man that she had created in her dream and it was forbidden in Chinese culture. This erotic love becomes too much for Du Liang when she wakes from the dream because she felt that she really needed Liu Mengmei in her life in order for her to continue living.

She becomes sick because of the lovesickness she felt for Mengmei and yearns to be united with this man that she had met in the dream (Tang 57)Bridal Du becomes Du Liang in the ghost world and she is seen as a rebellious woman because she defied the rules that were set against having relations with beings that are not seen. The Judge in the underworld tries to win the affection of Bridal Du but fails which influences him to send her back to life because the love that she had experienced could not allow her to love any one else (123).

She is sent back to in order for her to find this love that had she had been denied when she was alive (133). In essence, Liniang dies for love and resurrects in order for her to consummate it because love tends to be a physical attribute. When she resurrects, the other characters were not certain that it was her especially her father because it was practically impossible for a person o die and resurrect because of love. Liu on the other hand, interacts with Bridal Du well because he also felt they had connected romantically and that is why the two married immediately.

The play supported Chuanqi Chinese drama genre where lovers are always reunited through whatever way hence illustrating the concept of marriage affinity, yin yuan. Work citedTang, Xianzu, and Cyril Birch. The Peony Pavilion =: Mudan Ting. Boston, Mass: Cheng & Tsui, 1980. Print.