How is her marriage affected by socioecomic status? What do you think Oseki learns from her run in with Roku? What is the significance of their meeting through the lens of Marcist theory ?
Oseki was persuaded to marry her husband only to please their family. After her son was born he changed for the worst, so he started treating her badly and humiliating her all the time. He felt that she was his property and he could do whatever he wanted with her. Back at the time men felt superior to women. I think he was tired of being in a relationship with an uneducated woman, or someone that he thought was not good enought for him.
The protagonist stayed in an unhappy relationship only for her family, her brother had a good job thanks to her husband and her parents also got benefits from their marriage.
What is the significance of their meeting through the lens of Marcist theory ?
When she ran into Roku, She realized that many people are struggling every day to survive, she was not the only one. Even though Roku worked hard every day, he could not pay for a decent place to live, so he was born poor and after many years he stayed the same way. But her brother got a good job only because he had a connection ( her husband) otherwise he never would have gotten that kind of job.
Think about the setting of “The Thirteenth Night” particularly in terms of historical era. Given what you know of the era, and more specifically, what you learned about Higuchi Ichiyo’s life story, what or who could the female character represent? What role(s) did women play in society at the time, what kind(s) of power did they have, and how did they navigate their way through the systems of power?
She was born in the Meiji era, Back at that time women didn’t have rights. They belong to their fathers or their husbands. They didn’t have the right to decide the person they would marry. Their marriages were like a transaction between families. Even Though her mother didn’t let her finish their studies, she made it and became a well known writter. Back at that time women were educated only to be good wives or good mothers but she knew that women were more than that. She used her writings to tell real stories. She was a strong woman who supported her family after his father’s death. For me she was an empowered woman.
Hi Carolina!
I really liked your post! I also believe that Oseki stayed in her unhappy marriage for the sake of her family. In order to play her part in society she had to let go of having a fairytale ending, as all people do.
Hi Carolina ! Although I do understand your process when you say that Isamu progressively got tired of Oseki’s education background and status. I believe that reason why he chose to marry her in the first place was because of her education background and low status. He knew that Oseki would be an easy target to manipulate and basically keep someone like her hostage because she and her family need him and his wealth. I think that her having the baby helped him keep her trapped even more because now they have a kid involved, he knows it would be harder for her to leave.
Hi Carolina, Great post. I also believe that Ozeki stayed in her unhappy marriage for the sake of her family. It is crazy to think that in this day and age women still are bound by some of the rules of their society.