Is Life of a Sensuous Woman a Moral or an Immoral Text?
The book Life of a Sensuous Woman was written by Ihara Saikaku, Japanese author of the 17th century and it is a typical example of Japanese literature that flourished in the Tokugawa period. The book has absorbed
all the tendencies of the time that was the transition from the medieval period to modern times. In fact, this book puts the woman, her feelings and desires to the fore, creating at least four arguments to prove that this
text cannot be considered as an example of immoral literature.
The basis of these arguments can be obtained from the understanding of the time in which Ihara Saikaku lived and worked. The book was written when Japan was approaching slight social change, when the old medieval
system of Shogunate could no longer restrain the processes that indicated the end of Middle Ages and the arrival of Modern times. In Japanese society and economy the role of people who did not belong to the aristocracy – shoguns or samurai – increased. The long and stable rule of Tokugawa made it possible to start changes which transformed Japanese society from purely agricultural into the mercantile one (Saikaku 6). Artisans, merchants and the people of arts enjoyed a growing importance among all segments of Japanese society. Such processes have led to greater openness of thoughts, which in turn contributed to the emergence of new trends in literature, art, and philosophy (Beers 280). Japanese poets and writers began to show a
tendency to actively express opinions and concepts and to baldly describe feelings and daring aspirations of Japanese people. Because of this, art and literature of those times were more candid than in previous times and
Life of a Sensuous Woman is not an exception. However, despite novelty and bright description of experience, this book is a clear expression of the way of thinking of Japanese society in the 17th century. This particularly
concerns the attitude to the place of a woman in the community.
The book is the example of unusual Ukiyo literature. Ukiyo is a style of Japanese literature describing the lives of the Japanese, especially the aristocracy, as the search for pleasure. Despite the fact that the Sayikaku's book has clear signs of being Ukiyo it is an example of satirical and even cynical author's attitude to such literature and to the way of thinking that it expresses. In other words, Saykaku in his particular sarcastic manner sharply caricatures this approach to life. The book is a series of sketches in which mature woman tells a story
of her life, which was filled with multiple sexual connections with men of different social strata (Yee). Woman often jokes over many principles of life of the aristocracy and craftsmen in Japanese society of the time.
Morality or immorality of this book cannot be determined in accordance with the description of …
