Ichiyo: Feminist Theory
In the story “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo, there is a undertone in the story that is tied to feminist ideals. The character in the story named Harada Oseki feels marginalized in her marriage and wants to divorce her abusive husband Isamu. She wishes that her husband would treat her with respect, but Isamu continues to verbally abuse and humiliate her. After she talked to her parents about wanting a divorce, she decided to stay with her husband because she felt like it was her duty to take care of her son and help her family. Oseki wanting to take control over her own life reminds me of the idea of feminism. She wanted to step into her own power and make her own decisions.
The story “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo takes place during the meiji period. The protagonist, Harada Oseki, is married to a wealthy civil servant named Isamu and has a son named Tora. Her and her family were from a lower class until she met Isamu. Marrying Isamu helped her and her family financially. Things weren’t going so well in her marriage because Isamu treated her badly. She decided that she wanted a divorce and went to her parents’ house in secret to talk about it. After she told her parents about wanting to get a divorce because of Isamu’s treatment towards her, Oseki’s mom supported what she wanted while her dad didn’t, “Your mother talks big, but remember; the fine salary your brother is making is all thanks to Isamu . . . Its trying for you, Oskei, I know. Think what your marriage means to us, though, and to Inosuke, and to Taro. If you’ve been able to put up with things this long, surely you can continue.” (Higuchi 1114). Oseki’s father wants Oseki to stay in the marriage because it will her good for her family, especially her brother. Leaving the marriage would put her family back into the lower class and her dad warns that they won’t be able to come back to this lifestyle if she divorces Isamu. After this converstion, she decides that she should stay with Isamu because she thinks it would be best for her family, and she loves Taro too much to leave him too. When Oseki gets a rickshaw to take her back to her house, Oseki realized the rickshaw was being pulled by her childhood friend and past lover Kosaka Roku. Roku starts talking to Oseki about his past until Oseki gets to her destination. They both part ways and go back to lives.
During the meiji period, woman was expected to get married, have children, and do housework. Women didn’t have much power during this time because they were expected to be dependent on their husbands and weren’t given many decisions to make for themselves. According to the article Women in Meiji Japan: Exploring the Underclass of Japanese Industrialization by Saarang Narayan, a new civil code in 1898 formally reinforced the subordinate status of women in society, confining women to the household. Married women now had no economic independence or the right to take independent legal action. A small number of women started a movement because of the new civil code, according to the article Feminism in Japan by Barbara Molony. They were able to do this by talking with other women in transnational organizations because they couldn’t talk about it at home. They didn’t like that their legal status was different than men, they wanted to put a stop to sex trafficking, and marital inequality.
The meiji had a lot of social, political, and economical changes. Before the meiji period started in Japan, there was the edo period. Women during the edo period were encouraged to supervise their children’s education and take control of the household because their husbands were no longer in wars and became government officials, according to the article Samurai Women. Women’s social status depended on their husband’s, and they had to take care of business in the household. They were also expected to continue her husband’s line by having children and it was her duty to protect her family’s honor. When a family would open a business in town, townsman class women worked to take control over their own future. Many worked beside their husbands and fathers or went to school. Women were expected to help men. When the meiji period started, women were the workforce behind the Japanese industrial working class. They were paid under minimum wage, and it wasn’t consistent. They also had to work up to 12-14 hours a day. Men were being paid higher while women were being paid less. Due to the civil code created in 1898, women were forced to only focus on housework and no longer had independent legal action.
Oseki symbolizes a woman in the patriarchal system, the husband symbolizes the patriarchal system, and the parents uphold the patriarchal system. Oseki wanting to break free from her abusive husband and lead her own life, made me see that there were undertones of feminism in the story. She wanted to break free from the patriarchy, but she didn’t want to disappointment her parents that uphold the patriarchal system without even realizing it. They both understand Oseki’s frustrations about the marriage and think it is reasonable for her feel that way, but Oseki’s father think it’s best for her to stay in that situation so she can continue her roles as a married woman. She must do what is best for the family.
In sum, while I was reading “The Thirteenth Night” by Higuchi Ichiyo, I felt that the story had undertones of feminism in it. Oseki decided to divorce her husband because she was tired of the treatment and wanted freedom reminded me of feminism in a way. She wanted to take control over herself, and I don’t think she realized she was stepping into her own power. I think it was brave of her to talk about the hardships in her marriage and explain why she can no longer be with her husband to her parents. This story helped me learn about feminism in Japan and think deeper about how to describe feminism in Japan without the western definition.
