Genji the cipher (through C.9)
I have been skipping ahead in the book (shame!), and I've been trying to think why I find Genji himself so hard to get a grip on. Murasaki and Aoi and his poor dead wife are all clear in my head; Genji remains a mystery.
The reason, I realized, is that Genji doesn't introspect. Other people think about Genji and the consequences of Genji's actions and whether Genji likes them; Genji never examines his own conscience at all, nor does he empathize with the feelings of others. Take, for instance, the horrific (to a modern Western reader) morning-after scene with Murasaki after he sleeps with her for the first time. RT translation, p.187: Murasaki is stunned and angry and afraid. "Why will you not talk to me? You do not like me after all, do you. Your gentlewomen must be wondering about all this. He pulled the covers off her and found her drenched in perspiration. Even the hair at her forehead was soaking wet. "Oh, dear, we cannot have this! What a fuss you are making!"
Genji never considers that Murasaki's behavior might be the consequence of his actions; rather, he scolds Murasaki for not behaving as he imagined she would. He cannot recognize her as a separate being with separate feelings; she is another toy in the world that is Genji's playbox.
I learn so much about the women who want to (or don't, but have to anyway) sleep with Genji, the friends who worry about him, the family who advance his interests. I never see him thinking about the needs of others, or about the flaws in his own soul. He's the perfect solipsist.
The reason, I realized, is that Genji doesn't introspect. Other people think about Genji and the consequences of Genji's actions and whether Genji likes them; Genji never examines his own conscience at all, nor does he empathize with the feelings of others. Take, for instance, the horrific (to a modern Western reader) morning-after scene with Murasaki after he sleeps with her for the first time. RT translation, p.187: Murasaki is stunned and angry and afraid. "Why will you not talk to me? You do not like me after all, do you. Your gentlewomen must be wondering about all this. He pulled the covers off her and found her drenched in perspiration. Even the hair at her forehead was soaking wet. "Oh, dear, we cannot have this! What a fuss you are making!"
Genji never considers that Murasaki's behavior might be the consequence of his actions; rather, he scolds Murasaki for not behaving as he imagined she would. He cannot recognize her as a separate being with separate feelings; she is another toy in the world that is Genji's playbox.
I learn so much about the women who want to (or don't, but have to anyway) sleep with Genji, the friends who worry about him, the family who advance his interests. I never see him thinking about the needs of others, or about the flaws in his own soul. He's the perfect solipsist.