The Tale of Genji | Appeal in Murasaki Shikibu's Thousand-Year-Old Novel
In the following essay, Evans examines the reasons why Murasaki Shikibu's thousand-year-old novel remains so accessible and appealing.
Image a white-faced, black-toothed woman. Painted eyebrows crest either side of her forehead. Her hair falls down to the floor. She hides behind a screen, just the ornate sleeves of her robe in plain view. On the other side, a carefully-scented man. At home waits his wife, and his other wife, a couple of concubines, a pseudo-adopted daughter who someday will be his lover. But for now—as he sends off a love haiku via messenger—his passion swells for this woman whose koto he heard as he sat under the cherry blossoms.
Ever since the first installment of Arthur Waley's English...
[The entire page is 2243 words long]
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