Memoirs Of A Geisha Essay
analytical Essay
720 words
In the best-selling novel entitled Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Golden examines the secret world of the geisha. Contrary of what is often believed, geisha are far from being prostitutes; they are more accurately High-class Japanese entertainers. Arthur Golden shows the reader a completely different look on life in looking into the lives of geisha in mid-twentieth century Gion and sends a very strong message distinguishing the geisha and the prostitutes.
Arthur Golden, throughout Memoirs of a Geisha, creates a perfect image of the city of Gion, the last Japanese city to still have Geisha the followed the old traditions. Golden describes the world of the Geisha through the experiences of a fictional Geisha named Nitta Sayuri. This novel clarifies the distinguishable differences between a Geisha and a prostitute, Golden’ s main reason for writing the book. In various sections throughout the course of the novel, several differences are established between the geisha and local prostitutes. One of these is that the geisha’s obi (waist wrap) is tied at the geisha’s back in a way that makes it impossible for a geisha to put it on herself. Japanese prostitutes, posing as geisha, have their obi tied at the front, that way they can wrap and unwrap them as needed.
Geisha are strictly forbidden to have sexual relations of any kind with the exception of relations with their danna. Even the presence of a man in the okiya (a sort of communal home for geisha and her servants) proh...
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how golden examines the secret world of the geisha in his best-selling novel memoirs of a geish
- Analyzes how arthur golden creates a perfect image of the city of gion, the last japanese city to still have geisha.
- Explains that geisha are strictly forbidden to have sexual relations of any kind with the exception of relations with their danna. even the presence of a man in the okiya prohibited.
- Explains that golden distinguishes the geisha of kyoto (a district of gion) from all other japanese geish
- Explains that every future geisha is taught various forms of entertainment, including singing, playing the shamisen, dancing, and so on.
- Opines that arthur golden had very specific motives for choosing the theme that he did choose. every event in this novel is triggered by the presence of geisha traditionalism.
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- analytical
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- Geisha Symbolismanalytical essayThe geisha is certainly an exotic creature even today, but the reality of the geisha's position in modern Japanese society is far different from what it was in the 19th and 18th centuries, when geishas numbered in the tens of thousands and played an integral role in Japanese culture. Today, true geishas are rare and the geisha experience is the privilege of a wealthy few, with the price of s dinner party ranging upwards of five hundred dollars for the evening. On the other hand, the geisha is not an "ancient" Japanese tradition at all, but a relatively late refinement of the licensed prostitution that developed in the Yoshiwara ...
In this essay, the author
- Explains that the traditional japanese geisha, conspicuous by her costume, her walk, and even her mode of transport, has become for many a symbol of the old japan.
- Describes how the geisha steps out of her cage with precaution and enters a small garden. the sliding door splits open to admit her.
- Explains that westerners assume that the ceremonial entertainment of the male guest is a common ritual for japanese man, and that geishas perform elaborate forms of initiation that common prostitutes do in other countries.
- Compares the geisha's position in modern japanese society to that of the 19th and 18th centuries.
- Opines that understanding the exact nature and role of the geisha is still a difficult task, since the line between his function as an entertainer and as highly refined courtesan has never been sharply drawn.
- Explains that geisha is one of the most difficult words in the japanese language to grasp and define.
- Explains that they will examine the history and significance of the japanese geisha tradition, to consider how it flourished in japan under the tokugawa shogunate and the meiji restoration, and has been transformed in modern japan.
- Explains that geisha was originally the term for a male comedian or musician who entertained the guests of prostitutes.
- Explains that by the 1750s the licensed quarters had already been in existence for 150 years, and yujo were not as skilled in the arts, broadly defined, as they had been.
- Opines that the notion of the witty, sophisticated woman entertainer remains the basis of geisha mystique today, although they were relatively low in status and income in the tokugawa period.
- Explains that geisha were often courtesans, but an effort was made to prevent the two classes from competing with each other. this was initially to protect the economic rights of the more highly paid prostitutes.
- Explains that geisha in licensed quarters were forbidden to sleep with the yujos customers. in 1779 a registry office (kenban) was set up to provide and enforce rules of conduct for them.
- Explains that the rivalry of courtesan and geisha has continued down to this day, when "bar-girls" and hostesses have taken the place of most geisheda functions.
- Explains that the role of the geisha in japanese society was different during the early tokugawa years.
- Explains that the 1860's were, in a way, the golden age of the geisha.
- Explains that the geisha of this period were considered to be more progressive than the prostitute or concubine in other respects.
- Explains how the meiji government banned organized prostitution to avoid offending western missionaries, trade groups and governments, and the geisha culture became a part of the old capital's efforts to restore its prestige.
- Describes how the 112 geisha of pontocho divided themselves into four groups that performed on alternate days; those not performing pursued their usual rounds at teahouse parties.
- Explains that in 1873 the government issued its famous emancipation proclamation, again in hopes of avoiding conflict with western observers and visitors. this led to mandatory classes in handicrafts, the institution of the monthly tax, and an ill-conceived program to create the "practical geisha."
- Analyzes how geisha became a kind of surrogate courtesan, serving as an educated and intelligent counterpart to the traditional japanese wife.
- Explains that cultural transformations were forcing change upon the geisha, with the advent of the flapper dress and the shingle-bob haircut. the craze for western styles and mannerisms was threatening to obliterate the distinct social role
- Describes how the geisha world formalized rules of conduct, a standard for the profession, and by common consent had the power to enforce sanctions for transgressions.
- Analyzes the disappointment of some geisha patrons, who saw the traditionalist as a throwback to the backward and uneducated courtesan of years past.
- Analyzes how the dwindling of the geisha population during world war ii marked the next turning point in their cultural role.
- Explains that some hostesses in modern nightclubs are prostitutes and others are not. the geisha is an entertainer, pure and simple, but she is part of an old tradition in which prostitution plays a vital role.
- Analyzes how liza dalby reveals from her own experience of the geisha life in the 1970's that prostitution is still an option for many women.
- Explains that the geisha trade of today is a deliberately traditional cultural artifact that is preserved in modern japan as part of the same heritage as kabuki theatre, sumo wrestling and other "exotic" arts.
- Explains that geisha are not the only japanese who live and work in social groups defined by kin terms, but this phenomenon appears most explicitly in traditional occupations.
- Explains that the geisha culture is marked by the "primacy of sisterhood" and represents a kind of counterpart to the bonds of brotherhood in fraternal japanese cultures.
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In this essay, the author
- Argues that the study of female sovereignty is vital to understand the formation of the japanese state, based on gender complimentary rulers.
- Explains that joan scott, an american historian in gender history and intellectual history, argues that it is crucial to study how culture constructed femininity and masculinity.
- Analyzes yoshie's work, "gender in early classical japan: marriage, leadership, and political status in village and palace (2005).
- Illustrates the importance of female sovereignty through the example of suiko and jito, who were japan's most dynamic female sovereigns during the seventh-century yamato rulers.
- Analyzes how the complementary rulership proves that men and women had different social roles to support one another.
- Compares yoshie's "gendered interpretations of female rule: the case of himiko, ruler of yamatai" with piggott'
- Compares yoshie and piggott's arguments, arguing that women could have been important in pre-historic time, but the loss of power is to be blamed on how japan refashioned its political system to follow the chinese ideology and way statecraft.
- Concludes that the political significance of the existence of female emperors in ancient japan is that they provided a place of legitimacy for women leaders.
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In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ihara saikaku transforms life of a sensuous woman into satirically critical commentary of the ukiyo lifestyle.
- Analyzes how saikaku satirizes the superficial nature of ukiyo in "a monk's wife in a worldly temple."
- Analyzes how shallowness in the ukiyo lifestyle indisputably breeds gender discrimination and stereotypes.
- Analyzes how saikaku demonstrates that superficial and unequal aspects of the ukiyo lifestyle often expose its hypocrisy.
- Analyzes how saikaku ties together his final impressions by ending with the old woman asking: "i've certainly worked in a bunch of dirty professions, but is my heart not pure?"
- Explains saikaku, ihara, and damrosch's the longman anthology of world literature.
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In this essay, the author
- Opines that geishas are unique and fascinating individuals in the japanese culture. americans are primarily guilty of putting them in a similar box as prostitutes and placing an identical label on them.
- Explains that the woman who becomes a geisha is challenging and difficult. some women are destined to become geissa because their mother was previously one, while others are sold into slavery by their parents.
- Explains that a geisha's kimono is an important tool within her practice of art.
- Explains that a geisha is to the japanese man the simplest form of an escort to parties, events and gatherings.
- Opines that becoming a geisha is the choice between life and death for many women.
- Explains golden, arthur, memoirs of a geisha, vintage contemporaries edition, 1999.
- Explains that the geisha approves the terms with the okiya's mother of the house. only the danna is allowed to engage in sexual activity.
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In this essay, the author
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- Analyzes how ihara saikaku's life of a sensuous woman and mary woolstonecraft’s a vindication of the rights of woman advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed.
- Analyzes how mary woolstonecraft's a vindication of the rights of woman encourages women to become competent by acquiring equal education like men.
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In this essay, the author
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In this essay, the author
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- Explains gamble, adam, and takesato watanabe's a public betrayed: an inside look at japanese media atrocities and their warnings to the west.
- Argues that there is a disparity of records pertaining to the writing of economic history of women in regards to other records written during this time.
- Analyzes how east asian sexualities: modernity, gender and new sexual cultures describes how women's gender role has been changed over time in the east asia.
- Analyzes how the book portrays the sweeping changes in how education for women was viewed under japanese rule.
- Analyzes how kovner, sarah, described sex workers and servicemen in postwar japan, and how it affected japan's economy, but it gave bad reputation to the world until today.
- Analyzes orii, miyako, and hiroko tomida's "shin fujin kykai and the women who aimed to change society" in japanese women, emerging from subservience, 1868-1945.
- Analyzes how hiratsuka raich established the association of new women and how they resisted discrimination and constraints that women had.
- Explains that this book is just a data compilation of comfort women.
- Analyzes how women during the late 19th and early 20th century were educated and emerged as leaders. they describe the onset of japanese colonization in the korean peninsula and how female students adapted korean culture to meet the new social changes introduced by the west.
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In this essay, the author
- Explains that the fifteen-year war was a time of great turmoil and uncertainty in japan.
- Explains that grave of the fireflies is a tragic film from the late 1980s that draws on the issues of war and presents them explicitly to the public.
- Analyzes how grave of the fireflies offers a second opinion on the time period.
- Analyzes how setsuko and seita's hiatus of habitation under their aunt’s roof enabled a sense of independence and happiness not seen before.
- Analyzes how japan at war is a collective piece with far more critiques of gender and race during the fifteen year war.
- Analyzes how the soldier's statement demonstrates the cultural sense of superiority japan had during the war.
- Analyzes how the soldier critiques the woman's state as a woman. he tells her that she cannot protect herself as hard as she may fight or attempt to.
- Analyzes japan's comfort women as a collection of pieces about the sexual slavery, prostitution, trafficking, and rape of women from throughout the pacific region.
- Analyzes how race was addressed in japan's comfort women. the fear of mass rape and pillaging by the american soldiers became tangible and real in the minds of the japanese.
- Analyzes how the pacific war shaped the history and future of japan.
- Opines that cooke, haruko taya, and cook, theodore f. japan at war: an oral history.
1742 wordsRead More - nothinhanalytical essaySaikaku, Ihara. “Life of a Sensuous Woman.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Puchner, Martin, and Suzanne Akbari, eds. Vol. D. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. Print. 6 vols.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how ihara saikaku broke the silence with his piece life of a sensuous woman.
- Analyzes how life of a sensuous woman is about an elderly woman telling her life experiences to two young men. the woman confesses to all the unspeakable acts she has done, like how much sex she had and who she slept with.
- Analyzes how life of a sensuous woman portrays women as adaptable people. the old woman had many occupations and managed to land on her feet.
- Analyzes how the lord's wife holds "jealousy meetings" where women are to confess anything they please and take turns yelling and abusing a life-sized doll.
- Analyzes how life of a sensuous woman shows that men's top priority is sexual pleasure. everyone from the poor to lords had uncontrollable desires.
- Analyzes the theme of the buddhist confession in life of a sensuous woman, stating that one must find meaning and acceptance in his life.
- Analyzes how life of a sensuous woman is an accurate representation of life today. women's behavior has not changed at all in the past 300 years.
- Opines that it is important to confess and come to terms with one's life, for that is the only way to leave this world in peace. the buddhist confession was ahead of its time. erik erikson’s stages of psychosocial development emphasize the importance of finding meaning in the life.
- Analyzes how ihara saikaku's clever use of satirical elements forces readers to question the basic fundamentals of life.
851 wordsRead More - Ogawa, D. (1993) The Japanese of Los Angeles. Journal of Asian and African Studies, v19, pp.142-3.
In this essay, the author
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- Explains that 40 years of new york times newspapers will be used to conduct the research.
- Opines that ogawa, d., the japanese of los angeles, journal of asian and african studies, vol.
- Cites shaheen, j., and the annals of the american academy of political and social science.
- Explains that zillman, bryant, the impact of heavy viewing of pornography on jurors decision.
- Explains that the operational definition is "an idea, expression, lacking in originality or inventiveness." theorist's gudykunst & kim claims the word stereotype originated from walter lippman.
- Explains that to become a muslim, one must follow the five pillars of islam.
- Analyzes how shaakeem's "portrait of the middle east" supports negative stereotypes of arab muslims in the new york times.
- Analyzes how even the webster dictionary is negatively stereotyping arabs.
- Analyzes how negative stereotypes are instilled in a younger generation. children are the most susceptible and largest group of media absorption. negative stereotyping is effective when the message is not contradicted.
- Analyzes how the content analyzed is a strong message. propaganda and media effects theorists agree that the amount of exposure can affect the viewer's attitudes.
- Explains that the study examines the negative stereotypes of arab muslims in the new york times for the past forty years.
- Analyzes the significance of negative stereotyping in the new york times.
- Analyzes the desensitization effect of negative stereotyping in a rape case.
- Analyzes how kahn's research paper proves that negative stereotyping is a form of propaganda that affects politics.
- Explains that negative stereotypes serve a function, such as the lazy, servile black sambo that served to justify slavery. the heavy media coverage of the world trade center has practically stopped all foreigners from arab muslim countries
- Analyzes how the new york times described the rise of militant islam as a threat to world peace and security, similar to nazism and fascism.
- Argues that education is the answer to the tumultuous but subtle stereotypes the media injects into the minds of children and adults.
- Analyzes fisher, glen, and gerbner, g. (1989). mass media effects on sex role attitudes of incarcerated men.
3581 wordsRead More