Ichiyo

Deborah Adekoya

WEALTH & SOCIAL CLASS VS POVERTY & TRUE LOVE

Question: Think about the similarities and differences between Isamu and Roku in terms of social class.  
What do you think Oseki learns from her run-in with Roku?  What is the significance of their meeting through the lens of Marxist theory?

Answer: Oseki realizes that social classes play a big role when it comes to people her family is willing to accept. Even though Roku is the love of her life, he like her is from a low social class, while Isamu is from a higher social class and is more educated than both her and Roku. When it came to her getting married, wealth, Isamu’s social standing, overpowered poverty, Roku’s social standing. She has to pick whether she wants to be selfish and go after true love or whether he wants to be selfless and go after social class, which would bring her family happiness. Through her meeting with Roku, she can see the difference in social class, and how important it is in her society.

Feminist Theory

In society back then women were not able to play prominent roles in society. The role of women was to take care of the house, the husband, and the children. It is fair to say that women were seen and passed off as objects back then. This is shown in the story by the situation that the main character Oseki finds herself in. Her husband is verbally abusive to her, and she wants to leave but she knows that divorcing him would mean giving up everything. It is said in the story that if a woman divorces her husband, she is not allowed to retain custody of her children. A divorce also comes with the loss of benefits for her and her family. We saw this in the story when Oseki’s father and mother spoke about the benefits they and their son were receiving simply because Oseki was the wife of Isamu. We also saw how a woman’s opinion or voice was less important than a man’s. When Oseki voiced her troubles to her parents while her mother agreed that she should leave her husband her father disagreed and told her to put up with it, ultimately convincing her to stay. All of this goes to show how women were not considered as important as mean or not considered as equals.

Marxist Theory

Regarding Marxism, Isamu and Roku exist in two different worlds. While they are both men the way they live are completely different. Isamu can enjoy the luxury of being in a high social class while Roku must work and live out a meager existence as a member of the lower social class. Since Oseki is married to Isamu she would be considered a part of the upper class while Roku would be a part of the lower class. Although they grew up together, they were now in two different worlds. When Oseki and Roku met that night, it was shown that no matter what social class you’re in everyone has struggles. Through the lens of the Marxist Theory, we can see that in the story Oseki who represented the upper class was benefitting from the work of Roku and people like Roku who represent the lower class by using and riding the rickshaws. However, when they realized they knew each other they both felt embarrassed of what the other would think of them.

This meeting is also interesting through the lens of the Marxist Theory because while both men are extremely similar in personalities, the way they are viewed in society is different. This is because of their social status, as Isamu is viewed as “someone” in society and Oskei is told to bare his behavior because he has a positive influence on their family but Roku has been abandoned by society and his wife. He is now someone that is looked down upon by everyone in society and this shows how money leads to people accepting terrible treatment just to be viewed favorably by the rich or at a higher level than others. Oseki tries to get a divorce because she does not feel comfortable with the way her husband treats her for being from a lower class, she meets again with Roku, the one Oseki thought she would get married to because they liked each other when they were younger.

In the story, “The Thirteenth Night”  there are two characters Isamu and Roku, which have no similarities in terms of their social class, as one is a rickshaw driver and the other is someone known and important in society. However, the differences in the social ranking are made up for with the similarities in their characters and personalities. As both men have little respect or care for their love partners and family, making them to both be miserable husbands and fathers. When Oskei runs into Roku and he tells her his life story and what he is doing recently, this was an important reconnection because it shows Oskei that she is not the only woman suffering and that the problem isn’t because of the higher stats of her husband but his character. Much like many parts of the world at this time, the status women had in society was extremely limited. If a woman wanted to leave a life of maidservant or cleaner the only option she had was to marry into a family of wealth and higher status. Tied to the wealth of the man she married, her life no longer mattered as much as his.

The setting of “The Thirteenth Night” reflects the historical era perception of women. Its setting shows how women were viewed as just helpers who had no right to make decisions in the family. They were designed to perform house chores and take care of the children. For example, Oseki was urged by her parents to stick to her husband despite it being an abusive and unhappy marriage (Ichiyo, 1981). Because they thought that Oseki could not work for herself; hence she had to stick where her needs were satisfied despite the challenges. The story displays the woman characters as those who cannot make decisions but must follow what the men want. 

Ichiyo’s life story also reflects how women in the past were trained to be housewives. Ichiyo is displayed as a poor girl; this shows society’s perception of ladies. Ichiyo does not enjoy her right to study as her mother took her out of school despite being a bright young girl who understood what she was doing (Dexter, 2016). At fourteen, Ichiyo was enrolled in a school where she learned a lot. It helped her navigate her way through the systems of power. The education she got helped her manage the property left by her father. She became a very good writer, and she could have a say in a world where women were regarded as incompetent. Her mother never allowed her to continue with school; Ichiyo uses this as an example to show how she had struggles even with her family members, who never wanted her to prosper in her deeds because she was a woman. 

Isamu is wealthy as he owns many apartments compared to Roku. Isamu’s social status is defined by how Oseki’s parents address him. They say they are afraid of calling Oseki due to the fear of Isamu’s status (Ichiyo, 1981). On the other hand, Roku is a rickshaw driver who seems unorderly when he meets with Oseki. It is evident when Roku tells Oseki that he is ashamed of his appearance (Ichiyo, 1981). The appearance of Roku shows that he is of a lower social class compared to Isamu. However, there are some similarities between Roku and Isamu’s social status. Both believe that a man is the supreme leader in a marriage and should provide for the wife. Isamu provides all the required things for his wife. Also, after meeting Oseki, Roku takes the responsibility of leading Oseki. The difference in social class statuses, however, does not affect the fact that the woman must submit to the man. 

Oseki’s meeting with Roku teaches her several things. Oseki understands that no matter how unhappy marriage might be if the man is providing all the required necessities, the marriage will still be active. Additionally, she learns that all marriages have struggles that make the couples unhappy. The meeting is significant in Marxist theory’s lens in that Oseki learns that both Roku and Isamu are working toward the common good of society. If everyone works to satisfy their needs, then the issue of the social class will be based on the outcome of everyone’s work. The meeting helps highlight the issue of social classes, which brings conflicts to society. 

I believe that the female character “Oseki” is a representation of what the majority of women during those times had to go to. Within the text alone, you could infer that Oseki’s situation is not an isolated incident but instead something that the women of that time had to go through and was expected to go through. In addition of Oseki being a representation of the women, I believe that she also represented their thoughts and emotions as well. The power that women held at the time was through their husbands. They were expected to marry a husband, to stay home and support all of his needs. As we can see with Oseki for example, at one point it is said that she would be leaving without permission from Isamu.