Ideal Man and Woman in The Tale of Genji

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Recommended: Impact of the media on individuals and society

Murasaki Shikibu has given us great insight into what the ideal man and woman in court is in her work The Tale of Genji. Although in the abridged version we have read there are no concrete physical descriptions, the depth of personality in certain characters show us the ideal being one should be in the Heian court. Compared to today’s perceived ideals, the ideal man and woman seem to only have changed because of the influence of media.

First, the ideal man seems to have been what Genji was painted as throughout the book. For example, he was repeatedly described as “beautiful,” with some kind of metaphorical phrase attached most often with some kind of metaphorical phrase attached most often—for example, in the start of Momiji no Ga, Tō no Chūjō is compared to a “common mountain tree,” while Genji is compared to a “blossoming cherry” despite Tō no Chūjō’s own good looks (128). Genji is also depicted as a skilled writer; in a note he sends to the nun in Wakamurasaki, he writes in “a youthful hand so appealing that all the gentlewomen urged [Murasaki] to put it straight into her copybook,” which I took as a gesture of great admiration and exemplifying his writing as an example to everyone else (112-113). Then in addition to his devastatingly good looks and his great writing, he was also well-versed in the arts, such as music, dance, and painting, too. In that same starting scene in Momiji no Ga, Genji had danced and sang so well “His Majesty was sufficiently transported with delight to wipe his eyes, and all the senior nobles and Princes wept” (129). Genji was also able to play a variety of instruments, such as the sō no koto, fue, and kin (the former two mentioned in Momiji no Ga, the latter played along with Akashi Novice’s daught...

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...ions makes him perfect in the end (because no one can have no imperfections at all), while women such as Aoi and Murasaki seem to be the prototype for ideal women (either for men or women) today. The Chief Equerry in Hahakigi seems to sum up how one should find a lover well, and his observation should apply to everyone, not only men seeking women. I think with the advent of media and making the ideal too idyllic, we have come to throw aside perfectly fine people in search of “the one,” like Genji and Tō no Chūjō, and we need to come to realize that all people have imperfections and we need to accept people for who they are and bring out the best in them ourselves instead of expecting them to be ideal before we meet them.

Works Cited

Shikibu, Murasaki. (Translated by Royall Tyler) The Tale of Genji. Abridged. New York, New

York: Penguin Books, 2006. Print.

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