Based upon the story by Ichiyō Higuchi “The Thirteenth Night,” the two characters Oseki and Roku have similarities and differences. The similarities are that they are both unhappy in life, they both come from low-ranking families. Their differences are that Oseki is a wife of a rich man now, lives in a luxury house and Roku is just a rickshaw driver, does not have the house to live in. In my opinion, Oseki learns that she needs to stay together with her husband and child no matter what because she does not want to end up homeless like Roku. The significance of their meeting is that if they chose each other when they were young, they would both end up in a happy life unlike now, therefore through the lens of the Marxist theory Oseki’s husband is a wealthy man who mentally abuses her because she is from a poor family.
3 thoughts on “Marxism in the Thirteenth Night”
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Hi, I like the scenario that you mentioned that if Oseki and Roku had gotten together when they were younger, they would have been better off. I wonder if Roku would truly be a better husband than Isamu. Going off what Roku had said about his previous wife, it seemed as if he was not ready to take on the responsibility of being a husband and a father and went down a spiral.
Both Oseki and Roku are indeed in unhappy marriages, and both of them come from families of a low social class. After the meeting, Oseki indeed learns how wise it is to be in a marriage. Though I disagree that if Oseki and Roku had stayed together, they would have had happy lives.
hey, i agree that oseki does need to suffer through this pain because its just how it was back then.