Ichiyo

The female character could represent a mistress for the husband. It seems as it’s those times where the women have no say in the relationship and the men controlling the woman. I think they had to listen and obey to their husband but were tired of it. In Oseki case she ran away to her parents and tried to explain to them the situation.

The similarities between Isamu an Roku is that they are both hard workers and that they both fell in love with Oseki and the difference between them is that Roku like Oseki for who she is. Oseki learns about what happened to the restaurant that used to be there and also how hard of a worker Roku is. The significance of them meeting through the lens of Marxist theory is to show the difference between the two relationship and the way one treats her and the other.

Higuchi Ichiyo’s writing depicts woman seemingly accurate to her time period, women the time were seen as nothing but objects and caretakers. Women were there to support the man as he is the head of the household Higuchi Ichiyo shined a light on the reality on how women were treated and out of necessity choose to stay with their husbands no matter how bad the environment is. In ” The Thirteenth Night” Oseki is seen as a doting housewife who is supported by her husband but she is verbally abused constantly. She is ready to leave him but after one talk with her father she was convinced to stay with her husband for her kid and her family who were benefiting from Oseki’s marriage to Isamu. Even after she saw a glimmer of hope when meeting someone from her past Roku who she desired to run away with but resisted for the sake of her duties as a wife, mother and daughter.

In “The Thirteenth Night” Isamu (the husband of Oseki) is of a higher economical class than Roku which is what led to her being pressured to marrying Isamu. After meeting Roku she reminisces of their past relationship and thinks of a different life she could of had if she had married Roku instead while he tells her about all the trials he’s been going through since they last saw each other. In the lens of Marxist theory it could be said that the story shows how Oseki and Roku while being in different economic classes they are going through the same problems and struggles despite the class difference.

Higuchi Ichiyo’s The Thirteenth Night features the attractive daughter of a low-ranking family, Oseki, as the starring character. The plot revolves around her struggles. Oseki, the female protagonist of the novel, is confronted with the typical issues that women encounter in old age. Throughout history, women have been viewed as inferior to men because they have not had access to the knowledge they need and society has constantly held them back. Traditionally, women were expected to take on the position of housewife and primary caretaker of the home and children, while the father was expected to take the lead and provide for the family financially. It’s possible that the female lead character is a metaphor for modern-day women as well. As we are all aware, women are making strides and gaining influence in today’s society. There is still a fair amount of discrimination and maltreatment that they are subjected to. Even though women are still viewed as inferior to males, they are capable of doing the same things that men are capable of. They have the potential to be just as successful as the males in society in terms of strength, intellect, and wealth.

The traditional function of women in society was to give birth to children and take care of the family, but this is no longer the case. While males were required to work and seek to make their names as powerful as in the short tale, women were not given the proper education since they were mostly expected to stay at home and raise their families. It’s encouraging to see how far we’ve come as a nation in realizing that everyone is equal, regardless of gender. Now that women have access to the proper training and tools, they are proving themselves to be just as effective and strong as males. Inequality exists, but we may improve our outcomes by reflecting more often on our actions. Previously, according to the short tale, women like Oseki who wanted to divorce their violent relationships at the time were unable to do so, even if they were willing to do so. From the perspective of society, they were utterly weak, and women were viewed as needing a powerful husband in order for their family to be successful. As a general rule, people view women as having to marry prominent men in order for their families to be proud of them and for them to do something. Changes in the perceived patriarchal system were made possible by feminist activism. The ultimate purpose of all feminist work, including feminist theory and literary criticism, is to bring about gender equality in the world. When it comes to strength and self-reliance, men and women are considered equals.

One significant similarity between Roku and Isamu is that both have not had a happy marriage and their unions are on the verge of collapsing. Even though Roku had a crush on Oseki, she married Isamu on the advice of her parents, who wanted to see their financial situation better. Therefore, Isamu ended up marrying someone. In addition, Isamu is dissatisfied with their marriage because of the complaints that she is not properly educated (Winston 4). One difference is that Roku was being mistreated by his wife and eventually left while Isamu has been accused of abusing his wife, Oseki. Both Roku and Isamu have miserable lives. Isamu’s life is miserable because he is dismayed by the fact that his wife is uneducated and comes from a poor household. In his mind, he believes that Oseku married him because he was a rich guy and that he was not in love with her at the time (Winston 13). When Oseki stole away from her home, she left her kid in the care of her husband’s maids and went to her parents’ house to ask her father for permission to divorce her husband Tanaka, Meanwhile, as a rickshaw puller, Roku is unable to meet all of his demands. A rickshaw-puller with little money and a dead wife are two examples of Roku’s bleak existence in this film. It’s not just that Roku regrets not marrying his true love (Isamu), but also that he was compelled to do it by a wealthy suitor.

Roku Oseku reveals to her the sad elements of their life throughout their run together. Reality depicts a reality where the perfect existence they envisioned is not the norm. Oseki learns after an argument with Roku that they both have hardships. He thought Oseki had a nice and productive life, but it turned out to be the very same dismal life that Roku was living. She discovers that the ideal life they envisioned does not exist in reality. If they had been married, they may have had the life Roku portrays. Using Marxist theory lend it is to see the antagonism between the upper, middle, and bottom classes as a constant in society. People who have been oppressed will use the ongoing tension between classes to spark unrest and revolution, laying the basis for a new social order (Kellner95)As a result, despite their mutual love for one another and their desire to get married, their social standing prevented them from doing so.

Isamu and Roku both have problems with their wives. Isamu treats her wife Oseki very poorly and is abusive, whereas Oseki and Roku are more romantic. The reason why Oseki is married to Isamu is that his status is better. In my opinion, Oseki would need to suffer through this pain and do what benefits the future. Society back then was very poor for women, they don’t get treated with respect and men don’t care about women’s feelings. I think Oseki learn from her run with Roku that no matter what men she marries, the result of how men treat women is the same.

1. After Oseki accidentally runs into Roku, she learns a lot about what he has been going through. There is a lot of irony in this run in because both Oseki and Roku were very unhappy with their lives. Oseki should be living lavish because she is married, is wealthy, and higher in the social class. But despite her having everything a person can ask for, her marriage is unhealthy. She is very unhappy with how things are with her husband because of how he mistreats her. Roku is not happy because for one he is financially unstable, he lost a daughter, and his marriage is also not doing well. This meeting is so ironic because despite their social class they have a lot in common. Their meeting connects to Marxist theory because both of them are under two different classes and they both have similar struggles.
2. Oseki represents what it was to be a woman in her time. Back in her era women weren’t respected, they had no legal rights, no power over anything. Women were under the power of men. Their role was to keep their households clean and keep their family fed. They had to do whatever their husbands told them to do in order to keep them pleased. it was hard for women to navigate through systems of power because they were not educated enough how men were in that time because they had been following a system and role that was made for them to follow to please their husbands when they get married.

I believe the female character Oseki in “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo represents the life and treatment of women in society at the time. Ichiyo lived during the Meiji era, where women were constantly exploited and had no legal rights or power. Women were under the influence of the man of the household and were limited to mundane responsibilities. The women would work at overcrowded factories under very poor and unhygienic conditions. When at home there were more jobs such as keeping the family fed, clean and clothed, including the elderly, as well as managing household finances. Women were expected to be uneducated and could not partake in politics, making it difficult to navigate through the systems of power.