The tale of Genji by Lady Murasaki Shikibu is the world’s first novel written a thousand years ago.
It’s also the most important work of Japanese literature. If you want to watch my summary and
analysis of the Tale of Genji, I made a separate video. In this video I will tell you ten unique
things about this novel and tell you how Japan today is similar to Heian period in 10th century.
At the end I will compare the tale of Genji with Marcel Proust’s novel in Search of Lost time.
1: Love is a disappointment The love between Genji and Murasaki has a terrible
start. Genji kidnaps her at a young age to educate and raise her as an ideal wife. But by the end of
their lives, their love with each other is perhaps the closest to a real love in this novel. The rest
is fleeting love, lust, transgressions, affairs and unfulfilled fancies. Murasaki over time
falls in love with Genji and deeply wounded every time he cheats on her. The saddest moment is when
Genji is leaving for exile and Murasaki hides her tears from him and cries against a wall.
The novel begins with a discussion about the ideal wife, which seems the premise of the
novel. Heian men usually married for wealth or power, but Genji’s pursuit was romantic.
He pursued new women, hard to get or women who showed no interest in
him. Genji was active in the dark, prowling like a nocturnal animal.
One can say his passion was dark, yet not cynical as he deeply cared about the women
he loved. He was tactful, felt a sense of duty towards them. He only realised
his true love for Murasaki after her death, which was too late. Ultimately,
you can't get what you want in love. Romance is full of follies and frailties.
2: Female Perspective People brand Genji as a playboy,
a rapist or a despicable man, Murasaki doesn't pass such judgment. Genji appears a victim of
his own circumstance, whim and standing in society but above all his look. He was the
most beautiful man so in a way nature had played him a card he couldn't throw away.
He does feel regret, pity, duty and everything in between.
A lot of Genji’s women were trying to get a foothold in the court by social climbing.
Genji is quite feminine compared to later samurais or European knights. He doesn't have a sword,
he doesn't fight. He write poems, wears perfumes and is polite. He is betrayed.
He betrays. Emotions, and small details are given plenty of attention. The way one walks,
or talks or one’s hand-writing reveal their motivations, or social status. In a way the Tale
of Genji shows that small is often big. Ultimately the novel shows how Genji failed to find love.
3: Gender relations Genji’s world is male-dominated, not unique to
Japan. But what’s unique about the Tale of Genji is its full attention on the relationship between
men and women. The private or domestic affairs without talking about politics, warfare, plagues
or some other social upheavals. Men, despite causing women a lot misery are not happy either.
The physical distance between men and women, the shoji walls, the curtained rooms heightens
imagination that is far from reality. Genji often hear women’s voice, or music
therefore imagines them to be beautiful. Once he gets close, he’s disappointed.
Men follow their biological passion and but kept captive to their societal role as providers.
Women are captive to men’s whims and needs. In a sense Murasaki
is saying that neither is happy with the situation. Men cannot help chasing women,
owning them, and causing them misery and are unable to be good. Women too, use men
to climb up in society or try to escape men’s advances but ultimately succumb to their fate.
A good example is Kaoru, the hero of the novel after Genji’s death, despite his best effort to
keep his good character, falls to his passion. Keeping himself good brings suffering. Women’s
motivation is also material or social gain as they want to give birth to the next emperor.
Also women are more sensible and rational as a whole. Men give in to their biological instinct,
bragging right while women try to keep the social peace.
Men’s downfall are their romantic follies and women’s downfall are men’s follies.
4: A postcard from Heian Period The Tale of Genji is a like a small
window into a dazzling world of 10th Century Kyoto. The Heian period was peaceful that
allowed men and women plenty of time to chase one another, compose poetry, write love letters,
enjoy the change of seasons, watch the moon, perfect their handwriting and calligraphy.
Poetry is prominent, with 800 waka poems quoted in the novel. Waka
poetry is a precursor to the modern haiku. It’s short, about 4 lines,
a kind of reflection on one’s own feeling or often idealising certain
beauties or expressions of one’s inner thoughts. Koto instrument is also present.
The novel is also full of description about gardens, flowers, the moon, perfume.
The Kyoto of this novel is a small, yet closed off world, a sort of bubble where everyone knows
the meaning of poems that allude to certain things. In a way, it is not inviting you in,
but lets you watch as an observant and be prepared not to understand things.
Suma some 80km to the west is like another country as everyone weeps when Genji exiles
himself. The Uji chapters are set in the south of Kyoto is a different world,
more melodramatic and volatile, but the capital itself seems like a calm, insular world, and a lot
of people are trying to get close to the court, like people trying to know celebrities today.
5: Buddhism as escape Despite its isolation,
the people inside this bubble had piercing eyes and terrible mouths. To escape it all, Buddhism
was a real window. If you wanted to get away from the political and romantic follies or bickering,
you would retire in a remote temple to devote the rest of your lives in the service of Buddha.
Today Kyoto has about 1600 temples dotted all over the city,
mostly former villa of someone important donated after their death. Emperors too
retired from politics and became Buddha’s disciples towards the end of their lives.
For women, becoming a nun was an escape from being pursued by men.
So Buddhism provided freedom from society’s entanglement. If you visit Kyoto,
you will notice that most of its 1600 temples are outside the town centre,
often in forests or perched on mountain tops. Escape or retreat from the crowd. Well,
now packed with tourists. But back in those days, they were a place of peace and quiet.
Withdraw from society is unique in this novel. But even after withdraw, Ukifune,
the last main female interest is not free, as she pestered and judged by everyone.
Genji’s obsession with new women highlights the Buddhist idea of attachment to desire to
be the main cause of human suffering. Genji dies heart-broken after the death of the
one woman he loved the most. The novel affirms that life is nothing but an endless suffering.
6: Beauty in sadness The tale of Genji is
a sad novel, with many unhappy women. Genji enjoys the affairs but soon after,
he is overwhelmed with fear, anxiety and sadness. The most tragic moment is the death of Murasaki.
Sadness is somewhat glorified as beautiful. Jolliness and raw happiness are not considered
beautiful and worthy of literature. Van Gogh famously said that sadness lasts forever.
It’s true in the Tale of Genji. In fact the novel leaves us hanging as
we don't know what happens to Ukifune, the woman who escapes to become a nun.
Good moments pass like a sakura flower petal that dances in the wind as it tumbles down.
7: Realism One of the most unique aspect of the tale of Genji
is its realism. It depicts the emotions of its characters in the same way a modern novel does,
therefore it has the title of first modern novel. Books of this period didn't write about reality,
instead were mostly about myths, legends. People lived reality so didn't want to read
about it. It is a revolutionary novel. Another unique thing is that it is in prose. Poetry was
literature but prose seemed like keeping a diary or doing accounting. This novel is
the first mirror of reality. And the novel is incomplete, a perfect metaphor as life goes on.
8: life is a show Genji’s defining feature
is his shining beauty and his incredible smell. He tries to maintain his appearance.
His exile is self-imposed to not face people he knows after an affair that
scandalised the court. Keeping appearance is extremely important in this novel.
9: Japan today We don't know the ordinary life in
Heian era Japan. But there are some similarities between Genji’s world and Japan today.
1. In the Tale of Genji, Lady Murasaki says politics is not for women, but today politics is
rarely discussed in public. Politics, religion and salary remain private.
2. Gift-giving is still practiced today. Twice a year, summer and winter, people send gifts.
This seasonal gift-giving is fading as more western gift-giving traditions are taking roots.
3. Silence is very prominent in the novel. A lot of meaningful silences in conversation
takes place. In Japan silence is not awkward as it is in a western context.
4. Communication is very subtle in the novel. Often through poetry that alludes to someone
else rather than saying something directly. Today in Japan, direct communication is still
somewhat rude and frowned upon. People use maybe a lot. The unsaid is as important as what is said.
5. Ceremony is another thing very important in the novel and also today in Japan.
6. The most surprising thing the novel lacks is food. Today Japanese are obsessed with food. It’s
the most talked about topic in conversations. 7. Perfume is also prominent in the novel but
has gone out of fashion in Japan today. In fact very people use perfume (perhaps out of respect
for others in public transport or at work), while Genji’s smell can be felt from a mile away in the
novel. I guess with the invention of shower, Japanese no longer see the need for perfume.
8. In the Tale of Genji, people withdrew society by taking refuge in a temple.
This withdraw is not practiced today, but Japan has more one-bedroom apartments than
any other country on earth. Solution. 9. Yasunari Kawabata considered the tale
of Genji the highest pinnacle of Japanese literature. His own style is similar to
Lady Murasaki’s. In his famous novel, Snow Country, Shimomura the protagonist battles
four different women at the same time, two geishas, a young girl and his wife back home.
10: Proust (10 similarities) The Tale of Genji and Marcel
Proust’s in search of lost time, the most famous novel of the 20th century,
have a few similarities. Here are two quotes once from each. The first is a
poem composed by Genji when he exiles himself to Suma leaving his beloved Murasaki behind.
“Though changed I wander far away, my soul shall still remain with you,
perhaps in this mirror’s mystic ray, my face may linger still in view”
The second quote is what Proust says about people who have viewed an object before has
left something of themselves behind: “Some mystery-loving minds maintain
that objects retain something of the eyes that have looked at them,
that we can see monuments and pictures only through an almost tangible veil woven over
them through the centuries by the love and contemplation of so many admirers.”
In both cases, an object you looked at can hold something of you.
Here I will give you 10
similarities between the two novels. 1. The passage of time. Proust tries
to capture time (in search of lost time) and manages through involuntary memory. Murasaki
just laments the passing of time and the sadness it evokes and sees that as beautiful.
2. Focus on inner conflict, not politics, so both are very psychological in essence
as they deal with the internal human experience of love, life and endless suffering.
3. Small is big. The subtlest of emotions are given importance. Flowers, smell,
and feminine side of human experience. 4. World of snobs. Proust in Paris and
Genji in Kyoto. Genji never talks to the common people, only when he’s
exiled in Suma. Proust was obsessed with the aristocrats of Paris of late 19th century.
5. Love as a kind of ownership and how it is ultimately disappointing.
6. The gap between imagination and reality. How wonderful imagination and how disappointing
reality is. Genji falls in love with a girl through her music only to be disappointed
when he gets to know her better. Marcel is obsessed with Lady Guarmantes but when
he finally meets her she is so ordinary. The paradox of imagination and reality.
7. Monet is a character in Proust’s novel as Elstir who paints his impressionistic art.
Monet was influenced by the Japanese art which had a massive spell over Proust. A connection.
8. Both novels appreciate art. In Genji poetry, music and play. In Proust’s novel,
Marcel the protagonist’s dream of becoming a novelist is fulfilled. For Proust art gave
life a true meaning that nothing else could. 9. Marcel and Genji both loved their mother
and spent their lives to find replacement through romance and ultimately failed. Marcel found art as
his ultimate answer and Genji found politics a somewhat answer but remained unfulfilled.
10. Suffering is prominent in both novels. Also withdrawal from society. As I said, many people
withdraw from society in the tale of genji. In search of lost time too, Marcel withdraws from
social life to write his novel as he saw his world fell apart. Despite writing the bulk of his novel
during ww1, proust failed to spend much on war. Murasaki says politics is not for her to discuss.
Proust famously said a true paradise is paradise lost. This is very true in this novel. Genji and
later Kaoru both try to find women to replace the women they have lost, but they never manage.