Women in Chinese Great Novels - Book Report/Review Example

Lecturer: Women Played Important Roles-Chinese Great Novels Introduction The Story of the Stoneis one of the greatest novels of Chinese literature, which was written by Cao Xueqin in March 1974 in Chinese and translated by David Hawkes in English language in 1979. The book centers on love affairs and offers detailed information focusing on two branches including the aristocratic, as well as, wealthy Jia family who inhabits in two neighboring family compounds. It starts with the narrative of Jia Bao-yu, a man who prefers females to 1Confucian lessons, and the way his two cousins and parents of Bao-yu choose a wife for him, the ethereal attractiveness Lin Dai-yu (Cao and David 27). It deals with issues of plots, traits, scheming and military battles, as well as, reveals diverse role women played in the Chinese society. It is a complexity novel with varied characters and secondary stories. The narrative depicts characters such as Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu; thus, the novel is full of romantic rivalry, as well as, friendship stories. Thesis: The Story of the Stone and Three Kingdoms are the greatest romantic Chinese novels that attempt to reveal the way women acted as the seductress, romantic lovers, warriors and shrewd mothers in the society. Important Roles Women Played The Story of the Stone and Three Kingdoms are the greatest romantic Chinese novels that attempt to reveal varied roles that women played in the novel. First, women acted as the seductress and romantic lovers whose role was to impress men, as well as, aimed to solve economic issues. For instance, in the novel of the Three Kingdoms, Roberts revealed the way women such as Gou Jian sent his archenemy to seduce Fu Chai in order to enable them move away from the governance of his kingdom. The plot presents Diaochan who devoted herself in order to win the trust of Dong Zhou and she sent signals to LY Bu claiming to be unhappy and longing for him. Diaochan is one of the female characters who sacrifice herself as a warrior and she makes men tremor in terror. On the other hand, The Story of the Stone is a novel that attempts to reveal the romantic and loves affairs as the main roles of women in the China society. Women never received better education in the society but rather they were seen as people whose work was to bear children and look after the family. For instance, from the beginning of the story, Jia Bao-yu is revealed as a gentleman who prefers girls to Confucian studies and his parents attempted to get for him a beautiful lady so that he can marry her2 (Cao and David 11). Women played significant and also roles of being intelligent, confident, competent and affectionate. In the novel of The Story of The Stone, there three significant women characters such as Xue Baochai, Lin Daiyu, You sisters and Wang Xifeng, who is characterized as being strong, and insightful; though, she is also insightful, confident, and clever3. Many characters in this novel have different characters that define the roles they play in the society. For instance, Wang is a compassionate woman who is different from other female characters because she took care of Jia family alone. Wand also longed for power and wanted to reveal to everyone the way she is competent. At her age, women in China were viewed as companions and inferior to men; thus their position and roles was doing house core roles. Xue Baochai is another character who does things in an intelligent manner since her childhood and this makes many people to like her. Women also acted the role of wise mothers and attempted to unravel misery in their marriages. Many women characters are depicted as wise mothers who are capable of doing anything in order to protect their children or loved ones from anything. For instance, Moss Roberts reveled the way women acted as wise mothers and one of the examples is the second wife of Liu Bei4 (Luo and Moss 139). Lady Mi surrendered her life as sacrifice on behalf of her son of Liu Bei, and she made efforts to run away with Lady Gan, the first wife of Liu Bei together with her infant kid; this is when Cao Cao ordered armies to conquer Jianghoy; thus, the population was ordered to evacuate the area. Lady Mi suffered a severe injury in her thigh in an endeavor to flee away from the arm enemies. Mi and Ah Dou were separated from Lady Gan and when Zhao Yun came looking for them, she requested Zhao to leave her but take Dou so that he can have a better chance of survival since he was the only son of Liu Bei5. When Mi heard that the enemies were approaching, Zhao escaped with Ah Dou while Lady Mi bravely sacrificed herself on behalf of Ah Dou. The role of being a warrior and wise mothers are also revealed where other women die fiery death in an attempt of saving their beloved ones. The mother of Shan Fu hanged herself after a fake letter was sent to Shan Fu that he is need to see Cao Cao who was seen as the traitor for betraying their country; Shan Fu wanted to play the filial duty; thus he surrendered to Cao Cao in order to see his mother 6(Luo and Moss 212). The mother informed him that as a scholar, he ought to realize that filial affection and loyalty mayclash; Shan Fu cried after his mother died and also fainted but eventually he decided to make suitable funeral for his mother.7 Another woman is the mother of Wang who personifies the idea of martyrdom in the common Confucian culture and she is seen as a warrior. Luo and Moss (114) reveals the way both the mother and her son, Wang die both smiling and eventually the poem follows, which extols the mother and Wand as being martyrs8 . Conclusion The Story of the Stone and Three Kingdoms are purely feminist and they attempt to reveal the position and the work of women in the traditional Chinese society. They attempt to address the domestic roles of women in the household sphere including the struggle for women to solve financial or economic issues and overcome unhappiness in marriages. Although, the translation of both novels are the path to enlightenment age; thus they mirror the significant roles that women play even better than men. The authors of both novels attempt to address the question of the place of a woman in the traditional society in an essentially pure manner. However, they invoke the powerful sign of a woman in their novels and this can be viewed in the Confucian tendency and Daoist moral. The authors uses women as the moral mirrors for a declining male society and supports this arguments in upholding feminization to the religious path of enlightenment. Speaker Notes The introduction a brief summary for both novels. In novel of The Story of the Stone, author revealed the revealed motive of authors, which is love affairs, and roles of feminist in the society. It introduced Bao-yu who is the central character and the way he prefers Confucian studies. On the other hand, the Three Kingdoms revealed also the romantic love affairs and a complexity novel with varied characters, as well as, secondary stories The thesis revealed the way both novels ate the greatest romantic Chinese novels, which attempt to reveal the way women acted as the seductress, romantic lovers, warriors and shrewd mothers in the society. The main discussion part revealed different roles that women played in the Chinese society that included; Women acted as the seductress and romantic lovers whose role was to impress men, as well as, aimed to solve economic issues in the family structure. Women played significant and also roles of being intelligent, confident, competent and affectionate. Some female characters such as Wang Xifeng acted in an intelligent manner and others are portrayed as being confident, affectionate and competent. Women also played the role of wise and attempted to unravel misery in their marriages. Women played considerable roles of not only being intelligent mothers but also acted as strong warriors. The conclusion attempted to reveal the way both novels are purely feminist; thus presented that the ways authors viewed the position and the work of women in the traditional Chinese society. Work Cited Cao, Xueqin, and David Hawkes. The Story of the Stone: Vol. 1. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1979. Print. Luo, Guanzhong, and Moss Roberts. Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991. Print. Read More