Japanese Literature
From Chikamatsu’s portrayal of the women in Horikawa, discuss what is the role of a samurai’s wife/daughter. Do these women live up to this standard?
The real crime that Chikamatsu is trying to address is revenge. Some of the samurai women had skills in fighting making them rode out beside their men to war. The aspect of revenge as addressed markedly reduced samurai women influence in the respective samurai class. The resulting effect was the loss of ability to inherit and bequeath land.
From the portrayal of Chikamatsu, the primary role of the women in Horikawa was to support the respective families and their husbands. The women also had the responsibility of raising children in consideration to the proper upbringing of the samurai aspect. The women of the period had the right of inheriting and bequeathing property within the set community background. They had the responsibility of controlling the finances of the household and, managing their respective staff. Women also defended their homes during the period of war that resulted to the rise of some of the most feared women in the samurai culture. During periods of the samurai setting, their respective daughters were commonly refered to the power struggle as pawns.
The samurai women exhibited loyalty considering taking on the duty of revenging. Some of the exhibited characteristics profoundly influenced the perception of the samurai women in the samurai class. The women actively participated in the active part of the culture. The respect they gave to the husbands and the entire family as the foremost significant tasks were remarkable as expressed by Chikamatsu. The book suggest that the samurai women between the 11th and 18th century, the majority of the women had access to the knowledge of handling sword with the Naginata with the primary target of defending themselves and the respective homes. In the events of war that their castle could experience enemy overrun, the women were to fight to the war end and die with the weapons in hand and honour. The women lived up to the specified standards.
Besides adultery and deceit, what is the real crime that Chikamatsu maybe suggesting?
The real crime that Chikamatsu is trying to address is revenge. Some of the samurai women had skills in fighting making them rode out beside their men to war. The aspect of revenge as addressed markedly reduced samurai women influence in the respective samurai class. The resulting effect was the loss of ability to inherit and bequeath land.
