Today, commanding seniors would be the ultimate disrespectful gesture. 48-49) Her beauty gives her the right to treat slaves, such as Sayuri, with cruelty and give orders to elders in the okiya. Men in the street sometimes stopped and took their cigarettes from their mouths to stare at her. She d never seen a more astonishing-looking woman. When Sayuri first entered the okiya, the first geisha she saw was Hatsumomo, one of Gion s most famous geishas at that time. In the okiya, another term for a geisha house, a geisha has top priority if she is the most beautiful or most called for to entertain men at teahouses. In the geisha district of Gion in Kyoto, a woman, who is most likely a geisha, is not of importance if she is not beautiful or seductive and no one notices a man if he is not wealthy. Growing up around people who wears peasant clothing and smells of fish, Sayuri cannot help but succumb to the wonders of opulent and materialistic individuals while putting herself down. Because Kuniko has a graceful outfit and she does not, Sayuri views herself crude and ill mannered. Although she comprehends the genuine friendliness in Kuniko, she does not see this as the reason for wanting to play and chase after her. 27) She degrades herself, believing that she acts in an ignorant manner solely because she is just a shabby village girl. ![]() Tanaka s daughter, Kuniko, she sees that her clothing was much more refined than mine but being the village girl I was, I chased her out into the woods barefoot (pg. Sayuri judges herself as well, comparing herself to others who are wealthier and more polished than her. Tanaka, being an affluent businessman, is purely motivated by the money he will make from selling an extraordinarily beautiful girl, such as young Sayuri, to a geisha house. For the first few days, she even tries to convince herself that it was only a temporary placement, and Mr. Tanaka does not wear peasant clothing, but rather a quality kimono, Sayuri puts a great deal of trust in him, only to find out that he sells her to a Mrs. He knew things would never know and had an elegance would never have for his blue kimono was finer than anything would ever have occasion to wear. Tanaka Ichiro is a person she respected revered, almost. From this sort of judgment, she develops trust and respect based on the way a person dresses, talks, or how rich s/he is. Through all of it, Sayuri exhibits the emphasis she, as well as the society, puts on wealth and outer appearances.Įven before Sayuri enters the geisha district of Gion, to her, the exterior of a person is a significant factor when judging a person. In Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Sayuri, whose name was Chiyo before she became a geisha, tells of her struggle to survive in Gion s cruel hierarchy and her race to be one of the top geishas. In the years before the Second World War, the Gion district in Japan was a viciously competitive place where women fought desperately for men s favor and munificent gifts, a girl s virginity was auctioned off to the highest bidder, and a woman could not even dream about happiness through love.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |