This reading I found to be very interesting. I was able to read and find enjoyment in it. A section that aroused my interest was near the ending of the reading.
Osen, the homemaker and main character of the story seemed to have everything she wanted. She was a wife, mother, and even when she bore two children. She loved her husband so she "did not forsake her husband," (Saikaku 600.) One wonders why she would commit a sin such as adultery.
It takes place when Osen attends the anniversary of Chozaemon, the yeast maker's father's celebration of his homegoing of fifty years. Osen was "on friendly terms with these people ,and dropped in to offer her services." (Saikaku 601.) She was confronted by the yeast maker's wife with the unexpeted. Osen was accussed of commiting a harsh sin and crime. She calmy gave an explanation to what caused the suspicion. Her explanation to the wasn't believable. She remained her innoncence even with the constant accusations until it became unbearable. "My sleeve is already is already wet with tears. Having suffered the shame there is nothing else to lose. I shall make love to Chozamon and teach that woman a leson." (Saikaku 602.)
One finds it difficult to understand why a woman would come to such a decision. Was the risk of vacating her life a pleasure to her? A life she desperately wanted and yearned for.
While the mice were away Osen decided to play. She carelessly shared a bed she shares with her husband, with a stranger. She carelessly gets caught, and decides to end her life.
Osen's culture is one that if a woman commits a crime such as adultery the punishment is death. The ending of the story states "this is a stern world and sin never goes unpunished. (Saikaku 603.) Was this her escape, by punshing herself for commiting this sin? One can only wonder.
I think the author in The Barrelmaker Brimful of Love touches on several subjects throughout the story, the most obvious of which are the natural sexual urges of several characters throughout the story, as well as the readiness to manipulate a person to love another. For the sake of keeping this within a reasonable amount of words, I will discuss the latter of the two.
ReplyDeleteThe first reference of this notion occurs when the cooper is summoned to repair the planking on the barrel. After he stops the water from flowing, he notices the old woman fondling a live lizard, and asks her what it is. She tells him that it’s a newt that was brought up from the well. The old woman goes on to say “If you put this lizard in a bamboo tube and burn it, and then sprinkle its ashes on the hair of the person you love, that person will love you in turn”(Saikaku 592).
After confessing his love for Osen, the cooper and the old Nanny, struck a deal. She agreed to “bridge the stream of love” for him. “I will disperse the clouds and make your love successful in no time at all” (Saikaku 592). Later that evening the old Nanny happens upon an opportunity to put her plan in motion. She burst into the great landlord’s house, and in dramatic fashion told them the story of the young handsome man who was so desperately in love that he had a day or two to live in this world. “It was the cruel Osen, he said, upon whom his heart had fixed itself hopelessly. He swore that within a week after his death his ghost would come to kill every member of this household” (Saikaku 594).
So far, she had convinced the family to consider the cooper to be an eligible suitor without ever meeting him. Next, she turns her attention to Osen. Nanny convinces Osen that she will responsible for Nanny’s untimely death. Seeing that her plan is working to perfection, Nanny continues to work her magic on Osen. “She spoke with all the cleverness that years of wide experience had given her, and, as was only to have been expected, Osen soon yielded” (Saikaku 595).
Osen was now ridiculously in love with a man she had never met. As the story continues, and culminates, the cooper and Osen are married for several years in a seemingly happy marriage. Osen volunteers to help with preparations for a customary celebration for Chozaemon, one of her neighbors. She is accused by Chozaemon’s wife of having an affair with her husband. Being unable to convince the woman that she was mistaken, she decides that she might as well sleep with him.
The cooper discovers his wife and the man she has decided to sleep with, and chases him out of the house. Osen, realizing it was a hopeless situation for her, takes her own life. Chozaemon was executed as well, and their names were known in several ballads and songs with the warning: “This is a stern world and sin never goes unpunished” (Saikaku 603).
At the ending of this story, I sat and pondered certain things that stood out to me, and tried to make sense of them. One thing in particular I am sure has significance to the story, I am just not sure how to articulate, is the inventory of items that were dug up from the well. A kitchen knife, a bunch of seaweed with a needle thrust into it, some old pony design coppers, a naked doll without a face, a one sided-sword handle, and a patched over baby’s bib.