The Peach Blossom Fan's Fragrant Princess

Unlike the other heroines, in The Peach Blossom Fan, Fragrant Princess is bold in expressing her independent thinking abilities, perhaps due to the many hardships she was forced to deal with in early womanhood. Fragrant Princess is the most ethical of the female leads and is said to have a “fiery temper” because she speaks freely against a man’s judgement (K’ung, 60). That said, under her lover, Hou Fang-yu’s, influence, Fragrant Princess was reduced to the same pitiful, heartrending status of Oriole and Bridal. In Hou’s absence, Fragrant Princess expresses, “in my silent empty tower I sit alone, and doze in sickness through the weary days” (K’ung, 124). Fragrant Princess is so depressed without Hou that she chooses to isolate herself and wait

for his return. Similar to Oriole and Bridal, Fragrant Princesses’ heartache transcends beyond her emotional health and s her mental and even physical health slowly cripples.

As she falls to the ground wailing in grief, Fragrant Princesses exclaims that she “would rather freeze and starve than leave this tower” (K’ung, 165). Because of her emotional pain and deep affection for Hoe, Fragrant Princess chooses to inflict harm on herself. Fragrant Princess’ once strong-willed personality and ability to standup for herself has been completely compromised by her feelings of love. The emotions are the overarching power in determining Fragrant Princesses’ fate – as far as she’s concerned, there is no life without her lover. Although Fragrant Princess acknowledges that she “tore [her] cloudy hair and bruised [her] limbs until [she] swooned into a world of darkness,” she has no means to escape her miserable state (K’ung, 170). At this point, the amount of sacrifice Fragrant Princess has made to wait for Hou is beyond return. She “swooned” into “darkness,” meaning that her extreme emotional state caused her to faint and quite possibly become unconscious. Fragrant Princess no longer has an interpretation of reality, her reality is to sit in her tower and wait for Hou to

return. Love has consumed her and ironically, has taken the little freedom and individualism Fragrant Princess originally had. Before she met Hou, although she was confined by the role of a woman in traditional Chinese society, she was able to remain strong-headed about maintaining her composure and sense of moral. However, after meeting Hou and watching him leave, Fragrant Princess is so affected by their separation that in a way Hou has deprived any initial freedom she had. Fragrant Princess expresses, “the lovers torn apart like mandarin ducks, their tortured souls by cloud-capped hills divided, yearn for each other bitterly” (K’ung, 191-192). Same as Oriole, Fragrant Princess considers her and Hou as mandarin ducks, lovers for life. However, since they are separated, she feels “tortured.” This reference to mandarin ducks expresses just how sincere Fragrant Princess’ love for Hou is. When mandarin ducks find a partner, they will mate to that same partner for life. If the ducks are ever separated, they will pine for each other until they die of loneliness. This aspect of traditional Chinese culture is exactly what is happening between the two lovers. If Fragrant Princess is not soon reunited with her lover, then she will die of heartache and depression. Also, similar to Bridal, Fragrant Princess uses the diction “bitterly” to describe how she longs for Hou. Perhaps the use of this word in this context also brings insight towards the role of a woman in traditional Chinese society. Fragrant Princess feels bitter than Hou had to leave her behind, she feels bitter than societal norms deem their love forbidden and unachievable. Again, Fragrant Princess’ love for Hou has altered her perspective and caused her to sacrifice a lot, including the little freedom she had and her individuality. With true love in the picture, women in traditional Chinese times are unable to maintain their self-composure and are usually guided to disastrous effects on their own health and lifestyle.