Among the most classic Japanese Nō dramas is none other than Izutsu, or “The Well-Cradle” as often translated in English. Written by Zeami who is perhaps the most influential playwright to the Nō Theater, Izutsu was composed around the late 14th century during the Muromachi Period in Japan. In comparison with other Nō plays, it is relatively simple in nature as there are only three roles that need to be played—shite, waki, and ai—and the story is very characteristic of the typical Nō drama (Araki and Brazell, 143). Because a woman assumes the shite role, Izutsu is classified as a third-category play or katsura-mono (wig play), and since the play deals with supernatural happenings, or in the play’s case, the remaining spirit of a woman, it is also considered to be a mugen (phantasmal) nō (Tyler, 124). Through a careful analysis of Izutsu, one may not only observe its fascinating story, but also learn about its structure, aesthetic themes, and associations with the Buddhist religion that easily make this play one of the greatest Nō dramas of all time. The jo (introduction) begins on an autumn day with a travelling monk (waki) stopping at the remains of the Ariwara Temple in Isokonami. Realizing that this location was where Arihara no Narihira and his wife, the daughter of Ki no Aritsune, once lived according to legend, he offers a prayer on their behalf to comfort their souls. The scene then transitions into the next part, ha (exposition), as a beautiful female villager (maeshite) sings about her loneliness and longing for a certain man. The monk then notices the woman fetching water from a well to make an offering to a grave-mound that is later revealed to be Narihira’s grave. Curiously, he inquires who she is and what ties she mi... ... middle of paper ... ... be remembered for centuries to come. Works Cited Brazell, Karen, and James T. Araki. Traditional Japanese Theater: an Anthology of Plays. New York: Columbia University Press, 1998. Haruo, Nishino. "An Introduction to Noh: Appreciating the Play Izutsu." Speech. Hosei University. 12 Apr. 2011. Sasayama, Takashi, James Ronald Mulryne, and Margaret Shewring. Shakespeare and the Japanese Stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Thornton, Peter. "Monomane, Yūgen, and Gender in Izutsu and Sotoba Komachi."Asian Theatre Journal 20.2 (2003): 218-225. Project MUSE. 21 Jan. 2011. . Tyler, Royall. ed. and transl. Japanese Nō Dramas. London, Penguin Books, 1992. Yasuda, Kenneth K. "A Prototypical Nō Wig Play: Izutsu." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 40.2 (1980): 399-464. 12 Apr. 2011. .
Many thematic issues are found in modern plays from classic myths in the book Nine Muses by Wim Coleman. Long ago, when life was full of mysteries, myths, or explanations, helped people make sense of a perplexing world. Myths also explain deeper questions. Such as, how did the world itself come to be? How did life begin? How were human beings created and why? And why is there suffering and death in the world? People of ancient cultures all over the world puzzled over such questions, and they created stories to answer them. One of the main thematic issues in Nine Muses is the tragic effect of engaging in actions which are forbidden. Some plays which express this thematic issue are “Pandora”, “Phaeton and the Sun Chariot”, and “Eros and Psyche”.
Nisei Daughter, by Monica Sone. Even with all the mental anguish and struggle, an elemental instinct bound us to this soil. Here we were born; here we wanted to live. We tasted its freedom and learned of its brave hopes for democracy.
Written by Zeami, Hanjo, or “Lady Han,” is a play which “resembles an old love ballad with a haunting tune” (108). Tyler's version is dated 1543, almost a century after Zeami died, which also means the text represented here may be different from Zeami's original. There is also a great amount of honzetsu and honkadori, or borrowing phrases from other prose texts and poems (respectively), not only from the older classics such as Kokinshū or Genji Monogatari, but there are also Chinese references in this particular play as well. I think this play is quite different from most of the other nō plays we have read so far.
Butler, Judith. "Performative Acts and Gender Constitution: An Essay in Phenomenology and Feminist Theory." Theatre Journal 40.4 (1988): 519-31. The Johns Hopkins University Press. Web. 11 May 2011.
Michael MacDonald’S All Souls is a heart wrenching insider account of growing up in Old Country housing projects located in the south of Boston, also known as Southie to the locals. The memoir takes the reader deep inside the world of Southie through the eyes of MacDonald. MacDonald was one of 11 children to grow up and deal with the many tribulations of Southie, Boston. Southie is characterized by high levels of crime, racism, and violence; all things that fall under the category of social problem. Social problems can be defined as “societal induced conditions that harms any segment of the population. Social problems are also related to acts and conditions that violate the norms and values found in society” (Long). The social problems that are present in Southie are the very reasons why the living conditions are so bad as well as why Southie is considered one of the poorest towns in Boston. Macdonald’s along with his family have to overcome the presence of crime, racism, and violence in order to survive in the town they consider the best place in the world.
The history of Eastern political struggles and Western imperialism intersects with cultural diversity to form social ideologies based on racial and gender stereotypes. Madame Butterfly visibly perpetuates these stereotypes, whereas M. Butterfly seeks to dispute them. Essentially, the ironic story of Gallimard and Song in the play M. Butterfly can be seen as Hwang’s own revenge fantasy that atones for Cho-Cho-San’s tragic outcome in Long’s Madame Butterfly.
When watching the fantastic anime (animation) of Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, it soon becomes apparent that he has infused his richly detailed worlds with an animistic world-view that references ancient Japanese beliefs, practices and myths. His films describe an intriguing mixture of earthy spirituality particularly drawn from the Shinto tradition. Shinto is less a religion than a way of life – a pantheistic and animistic faith that believes that every object possesses a spirit, and encourages nature worship, folk beliefs, ancient deities and rituals. It has no dogma or moral doctrine, except for four general tenets: worshipping and honouring the kami; love of nature; tradition and the family; and cleanliness (Picken 1994:9-10). For the scope of this article, I will be looking at how respect for the kami and nature inform two of Miyazaki’s films Princess Mononoke (Mononokehime 1997) and Spirited Away (Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi 2001).
Savas, Minae. "Feminine Madness In The Japanese Noh Theatre." Electronic Thesis or Dissertation. Ohio State University, 2008. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. 11 Mar 2014.
The Heian period(794-1185), the so-called golden age of Japanese culture, produced some of the finest works of Japanese literature.1 The most well known work from this period, the Genji Monogatari, is considered to be the “oldest novel still recognized today as a major masterpiece.”2 It can also be said that the Genji Monogatari is proof of the ingenuity of the Japanese in assimilating Chinese culture and politics. As a monogatari, a style of narrative with poems interspersed within it, the characters and settings frequently allude to Chinese poems and stories. In addition to displaying the poetic prowess that the Japanese had attained by this time period, the Genji Monogatari also demonstrates how politics and gender ideals were adopted from the Chinese.
The Tale of Genji is considered the first great novel in the history of world literature. Murasaki Shikibu’s actual name is unknown, however it was common to name women after the office held by a male relative. Her father admired her academic brilliance but wished she were born a man instead because in the Heian society, Chinese learning was only valued for men. Men and women were strictly segregated in Heian Japan. Typically, women were married around ten or eleven, and their role was to bear children. The purpose of marriage was to continue the family line and create alliances with other families. Heian women’s literature thrived in this world of gender asymmetries. As female authors, women voiced how they suffered from their dependence on their husbands.
The patriarchal repression of Chinese women is illustrated by Kingston's story of No Name Woman, whose adulterous pregnancy is punished when the villagers raid the family home. Cast out by her humiliated family, she births the baby and then drowns herself and her child. Her family exile her from memory by acting as if "she had never been born" (3) -- indeed, when the narrator's mother tells the story, she prefaces it with a strict injunction to secrecy so as not to upset the narrator's father, who "denies her" (3). By denying No Name Woman a name and place in history, leaving her "forever hungry," (16) the patriarchy exerts the ultimate repression in its attempt to banish the transgressor from history. Yet her ghost continues to exist in a liminal space, remaining on the fringes of memory as a cautionary tale passed down by women, but is denied full existence by the men who "do not want to hear her name" (15).
As we learned during the first half of the course, the Heian period focused their attentions on elegance, aesthetics (of actions or objects), and relationships (specifically the feelings of love, longing, and waiting). This is reflected that period’s literature. In “Genji Monogatari,” the characters continuously behaved elegantly and gracefully spoke in poems. “Makura no Sōshi” acted as a reference and guide for appropriately refined court behavior. While various nikki, such as “Izumi Shikibu Nikki” and “Kagerō Nikki,” gave readers insight into the lives and relationships of people in the Heian period court.
Her play proved that women are not at the mercy of men and are capable of making decision or assumptions for themselves. The two leading women in the play emphasize the idea of women having power. Even though it is in tedious means of her play, it contributes greatly to the overall idea. The reader of the play or participating actors are introduced to dynamic gender roles that can be seen in everyday life. The play showed how women are capable of taking control of their own lives and how it affects the lives of others around
In Noh there are many things that are significant, and that have deeper meanings. For instance the simple way that they walk, sing, and move all mean something more. While doing the presentations on a Noh play I noticed something beautiful about the play that I had chosen. Spring was mentioned a lot, it had many cameos in the play. In Yuya the entire back story of the play is the discussions of going to see the cherry blossoms. Spring in Japan means a whole lot more than just another season. It means new life, and new beginnings, a way for family to come together and start anew. So while taking this course I really picked up on the seasonal aspect of Noh whether it be spring, autumn, summer, or winter. Each setting gave a new feeling of how people reacted, and it’s true in real life also. So in this essay even though spring will be the main topic I will be discussing all of the seasons and what they mean in Japanese culture, with some symbolic things and Noh examples also.
The novel Tsotsi, by Athol Fugard, is a story of redemption and reconciliation, facing the past, and confronts the core elements of human nature. The character going through this journey, who the novel is named after, is a young man who is part of the lowest level of society in a poor shanty town in South Africa. Tsotsi is a thug, someone who kills for money and suffers no remorse. But he starts changing when circumstance finds him in possession of a baby, which acts as a catalyst in his life. A chain of events leads him to regain memories of his childhood and discover why he is the way he is. The novel sets parameters of being “human” and brings these to the consideration of the reader. The reader’s limits of redemption are challenged as Tsotsi comes from a life lacking what the novel suggests are base human emotions.