Getting back to the heart of the story, we go now to Chapter Ten. At this point, Genji is around 26 years old. He has already had affairs with 10 women (more on this in the next post), and is married to Aoi. There is even speculation that two or three of the young children now running around the Heian court are, in fact, Genji's.
At this point, there is a scandal. The current emperor suddenly dies, and through a strange series of events, the throne is left open and the governing mistress of Genji's enemies takes over. Fearing his safety, Genji leaves for a remote coastal sactuary. Genji's enemies ban him from the court, seemingly forever.
At this point, the story leaves romance behind and takes on large Shakespearean overtones, as one king plots to overthrow another king; people are removed from power; people are forced out of courts and go into exile, etc.
Interestingly enough, I've thought a lot about politics and Japan on this trip, as the country is currently in a major election, which will be held on August 30th. (Obviously as a non-resident I can't participate directly in any of the activities, including taking handouts from people on the street. That doesn't, however, stop these fervent activists from approaching me, or piping their thoughts to me from loudspeakers in cars or on street corners. . . . I mean, these people take their job SERIOUSLY!)
YOUR TASK:
1) Think about politics. Where are some of the places you see politics directly? Where do you see them indirectly?
2) Interestingly, the overt politics in Genji seem to take place among the men, and the indirect, more discreet politics seem to take place among the women. Is this the way things are in real life? Or are they changing? (Think of Hillary Clinton and Sara Palin in America, for example.)
3) What do politics do to human relations? Is there a reason why Shakespeare included so many politics in his plays? Is that one of the reasons why his stories, as well as Genji, seem to be "timeless?"
No comments:
Post a Comment