Genji, the protagonist of The Tale of Genji had no shortage of romantic partners, but his greatest love may have been Murasaki. Genji was attracted to Murasaki when she was only a child. He removed her from her late grandmother’s residence when she was about ten years old with the idea of raising her to be his wife. Readers’ opinions divide over whether or not it was Murasaki’s good fortune to have been singled out by Genji for such attention. Some argue that Murasaki was fortunate to attract the patronage of one of the most important men in court society, while others argue that she was deprived of her autonomy and therefore could never be happy with him. Take one of these two positions and argue that position based on, (1) your reading of the Tale; (2) your consideration of at least one critical article as discussed below.
In order to make your argument, first, you should read The Tale of Genji from Kiritsubo chapter to The Rites chapter. These chapters will give you a better idea of how their relationship develops in the latter part of
their lives. Next, reconstruct to the best of your ability the expectations toward marriage that Heian readers would have brought to this story. How unusual was Genji’s behavior toward Murasaki, and would it have
been viewed as permissible by people back then? To aid you in assessing the behavioral norms of the time, there are two critical articles that may be useful: 1. Royal! Tyler’s critical article, “‘I Am I’: Genji and
Murasaki”; 2. Margaret Childs’ article, “The Value of Vulnerability…”. You must refer to both of these articles effectively in constructing your argument. Finally, argue your own viewpoint about whether
Murasaki’s lack of autonomy prohibited her from being happy or not.