CRITICISM

Gerstle, C. Andrew. “Heroic Honor: Chikamatsu and the Samurai Ideal.” Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 57, No. 2 (December, 1997): 307-81.

Argues that Chikamatsu depicted honor as the potential of all humans, not merely the upper classes; includes a translation of Tethered Steed and the Eight Provinces of Kanto.

Keene, Donald. Introduction to Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu, pp. 1-38. New York: Columbia University Press, 1961.

Provides an overview of Chikamatsu's career in historical context, focusing on The Love Suicides at Sonezaki, The Battles of Coxinga, The Uprooted Pine, and The Love Suicides at Amijima.

Mueller, Jacqueline. “A Chronicle of Great Peace Played Out on a Chessboard: Chikamatsu Monzaemon's Goban Taiheiki. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 46, No. 1 (1986): 221-32

Discusses several dramatizations of the Ako Vendetta of 1703, finding Goban Taiheiki one of the most direct renderings.

Zaraspe, Raquel Sims. “Chikamatsu Monzaemon: A Study in Japanese Tragedy.” Asian Studies 8, No. 3 (1970): 352-65.

Compares Chikamatsu's tragedies to those of Western playwrights, focusing on cultural differences in the understanding of guilt.