Ichiyo was born during the Meiji era, when women were permitted to attend school just to learn how to read and write. Only a few women had the same opportunities for further study as Ichiyo. Women did not have rights at the time. They were the property of their dads or husbands. Women were obliged to marry at an early age in order to please their families and cultures, have children, and stay at home to cook for their husbands, clean the house, and care for the children. Ichigo was well aware that women were more than that. She told true stories through her writing. She was a strong woman who supported her family following the loss of his father. Giving your daughter’s hand to other families at a young age has been practiced for centuries and continues to be practiced in many areas of the world.

We know that Ichiyo would write stories having to do with the real situations the women of her time would go through. However, I think that the female character in her story can also represent her relationship with writing. Ichiyo always struggled with wanting to produced work that was perfect in her own way or publishing what she could for money. As head of her household, she usually felt like she had to think about how her decisions would affect her family, just like Oseki had to do when she contemplated about leaving her husband. If she only published her writing when she found it to be perfect, she and her family would be at risk of poverty. She would have had to find a husband, become a rich man’s mistress, or resort to prostitution. Because women had little to no power and usually very minimal education as well, these were the things they normally would have to resort to in order to support themselves and their families.

In The Thirteenth Night by Higuchi Ichiyo, Oseki Harada was not only a woman in the eighteenth century, but her and her family were considered “low ranking” before she married her husband, Isamu. If Oseki did not have these two factors holding her back it would’ve been easier for her to leave her marriage or to not have married out of need in the first place. The only reason she feels the need to stay in her unhappy marriage is because she feels as if it’s her duty to provide for her family. The only way she’s able to provide for them is through the opportunities and security her husband provides. Also because of her status, her husband sees her as uneducated and weak, perhaps if her family were in a better position before he would not be treating her the way he does. However, if Oseki had came from a wealthier family Isamu would’ve found another women and family in need to continue his abusive ways. Furthermore, when Oseki runs into her past love interest, Roku, she learns that maybe she did make the right decision marrying Isamu. The Roku she knew before in her teenage years is not the same Roku she met that night. Through the lens of Marxist theory, Roku and Oseki’s meeting foreshadows that these two will go on to continue their dissatisfying lives. Even if they were to run off together Roku has nothing to offer to Oseki and her family at this point. Maybe she felt optimistic about the encounter before she started to ask him about his life and what he’s been up to, but after revealing he’s living in a rooming house and has lost his wife and daughter she has lost all hope of a different, better life than she’s living now.

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.    

In the thirteenth night the Oseki who came from a low-class family and married Harada Osamu who belongs to the high class. Oseki’s relationship with her husband changed after she had her son Taro. Oseki’s husband started to abuse her verbally, calling her boring, worthless, etc. I think Oseki felt obliged to remain in the abusive marriage because she was economically stable, and probably did not want her son to grow up without a father. Oseki was thinking to leave her husband and when she found out that the man pulling the rickshaw was her old school classmate, she was so excited, she was asking him many questions perhaps she was hoping that her classmate progressed and was economically stable to start a relation, but he was poor and did not have a place to live. She chose to stay in the abusive relation for the rest of her life.

In the thirteenth night, during the Meiji era, women were allowed to go to school just to learn how to read and write. I believe only very few women had the opportunity to school for higher education like Ichiyo did. Women were probably be forced to get marry at a young age to have children and to stay home to cook for their husbands, clean the house and take care of the children. Women had to obey their husbands. I do not think women were allowed to work like women do now. I believe men and women are equal and should be treated equal. Although we are in 2022 but feminism still exist in some parts of the world. should be completely eradicated!