Analysis Of The Diary Of Lady Murasaki

Not only did she write her diary but she also wrote many other fictional stories. Although she did not write everyday, most days consisted of the same information. She would get up around 4 a.m., go down to get buckets of water. She would then come back send the kids off to school, and then go out to collect paper. Sometimes she got lucky and collected a lot of paper and other times she got none, which meant no food for that night. Usually she would mention what fight happened in the village and described the way so many people in the fevela drank until they were drunk all day.

Women’s social standing was very important to both men and women. A woman’s appearance was the easiest form of determining her social class. If a woman was dressed in a skirt and blouse or a

Another area in which women made changes was with their appearance. Women used their attire and style to show an independence, a certain freedom in which they alone had control. Starting with the “Gibson Girl”, women dressed in long, slim dresses, freeing themselves of the poufy petticoats of yore. Women started wearing shorter dresses and shorter hairstyles, leading to “Flapper Jane”. “Women started wearing “less” clothing, shorter dresses, cutting off their hair, and just being more “sensual” than normal”, (Bliven, 1925).

The author who brought to us The Tale of Genji, a novel now regarded as the first written novel in history, left behind an arguably more treasurable artifact: a diary that opens a window into history. The Diary of Lady Murasaki by Lady Murasaki Shikibu gives the reader a glimpse of the imperial court during eleventh century Japan and presents the past in an illuminated vision. Being an attendant in the imperial court, Lady Murasaki is frequently involved with the activities of elite Japanese women. Her day-to-day interaction with the nobles and elites enhance her account with the curious perspective of an elite female. As a woman, Lady Murasaki's descriptions are oriented around clothing

Before the 1920’s, women’s attire was considered fairly modern. Women would have worn clothing with more of a silhouette than clothing that was loose and flowy. The length of their dresses never revealed more of their leg than just their ankle. Women received bad reputations when showing their knees or even their calfs. Women in the 1920’s also had a different ideal figure than most women do today. The body types women wanted to achieve also transformed into a more feminine look. This look consisted of low bust lines, higher hems lines, and showing off more curves than ever before. These women became unapologetically fearless.

In the essentially dual religious system in Japan, ideologies and traditions play a heavy role in the everyday life of the Japanese people. Shintoism and Buddhism intertwine and complement themselves in Japanese culture, despite Buddhism coming in from mainland Asia. A particularly powerful idea from Buddhism is mono no aware, the realization and acknowledgment of the impermanence and its place in the world. This idea that nothing stays the same forever manifests itself heavily in Japanese literature, whether in personal writings or fictional works. Despite spanning hundreds of years, each work was shaped by and include manifestations of mono no aware. I intend to underline and pinpoint instances that mono no aware is influencing these works, and discuss similarities and differences between them. In this paper, I have three works that I will explore, each one corresponding to a different time period before the pre-industrial revolution; The Diary of Lady Murasaki comes from the classical period, Essays in Idleness from the medieval, and the immensely popular play Chushingura from the pre-modern era.

As an introduction, Liudmila Petrushevskaya writes that what readers are about to see is a diary that was sent to her by the daughter of the author of the diary after her mother's death. The notes that make up the diary are those of a woman, a poet, describing her living during the late 1980's, her children and

In the second entry of Anne Frank's diary, Margot got a call-up from the SS, which forced the Franks to go into hiding in fear of their future. After Otto Frank came home, "Margot and I started packing our most important belongings into a schoolbag" (Frank para. 15). Margot and Anne went packing after their Father told them they were going into hiding. This was the same day that Margot got called-up.

Two questions came about with these changes in clothing. The first being, why didn't these influences change women's costume in the same way as that of men? Taking the history of humanity as a whole, there can be little doubt that men have played a greater part in social life, and have been more easily influenced by social factors, than have women. It can be said that if social and political influences have been the chief factors in bringing about the greater uniformity of men's

poem is not merely a static, decorative creation, but that it is an act of communication between the poet and

Before the 1920’s, women’s attire was considered fairly modern. Women would have worn clothing with more of a silhouette than clothing that was loose and flowy. The length of their dresses never revealed more of their leg than just their ankle. Women received bad reputations when showing their knees or even their calfs. Women in the 1920’s also had a different ideal figure than most women do today. The body types women wanted to achieve also transformed into a more feminine look. This look consisted of low bust lines, higher hems lines, and showing off more curves than ever before. These women became unapologetically fearless.

During the devastating time of World War II, a Jewish teenage girl wrote a diary about the gruesome events she witnessed, this diary was named, Diary of a Young Girl, Anne Frank. Anne Frank lived in Holland and went into hiding when her sister, Margot, got a letter to go to a reception camp. The Franks faced terrifying moments during hiding. They witnessed war outside their window and stayed in the same house without even going outside for about two years.To add on, the Franks had to keep in mind how every day they could be arrested or even die. Sadly Anne and her family are arrested and are sent to Auschwitz, a concentration camp where she would later die. While in hiding, the Franks and the Van Daans, who were also in hiding with them,

In his The Life of An Amorous Woman, Ihara Saikaku traces the demise of a woman whose thoughts and actions were controlled by insatiable lust and sexual desire. She begins as a wife and then progresses to a court lady-in-waiting, a concubine to a feudal lord, courtesan, priest’s mistress, brothel prostitute, and, finally a streetwalker. Though courtesans did not play a major role in ancient Japan, by the seventeenth century, the courtesan class was sanctioned by the government to the extent that official decrees created a separate district to enclose them and put up physical boundaries that mirrored the division between them and traditional prostitutes. According to Chesemore in her essay, Women of the Floating World, “as in all areas of Japanese life, attention was paid to the distinctions in the rank of the various inhabitants of this world, and clearly the courtesan reigned supreme” (Chesemore, 1990). Saikaku writes that, because of her beauty and talent, she had her choice of men, and “in the streets she walks with her head held high and does not step aside for anyone.” Far from the traditional Confucian gender roles, the amorous woman can afford to be haughty, as she was showered with gifts and other luxuries.

During the Regency era appearance was extremely important. If a woman arrived at a party under or overdressed she would be mocked and ridiculed for days by other women. Since propriety was valued as well, those who were dressed scandalously would be avoided by others to safeguard their reputation. Appearance was also and indicator of social status and wealth, which determined whether or not a person was

Western clothing for women truly made its mark in Japan after World War II. The women began wearing Western-style dresses, because they were less expensive and easier to care for than kimonos (The World Book Encyclopedia [J], 48)