Comparison Of The Pillow Book And The Song Of Roland

Throughout time, the role that Women had in the early twentieth century to the present has changed drastically and it has changed for the better. Japanese American Women residing in the United States, has experienced the evolution of their culture, tradition, values and their role in society. However though it seems as if there is no time in this ever so rapid society, they still continue to pass down culture and tradition through each generation. Some key terms that are crucial in order to understand the essay are, Issei, or the first generation, Nisei, the second generation ,and Sansei, known as the third generation.Over time the Women slowly moved away form being the average Homemaker and transforming into a respected and valued member of society.

Households were strictly patriarchal in which the man of the house made all the important decisions. Women's jobs at the time were mostly relegated to domestic service and occasional work at harvest time. The jobs were always of low pay, low status, and required little training. In addition to this females were not legally permitted to inherit land or property. This was the bleak life of a woman, with little hope or power, and always the subordinate of men.

In the book The Gossamer Years, Heian society of Japan is expressed through the voice and actions of the author of the book. The book is a compilation of memoirs written by a noblewoman who lived during this period; however, it is not an extremely accurate historical reference. Instead it is a personal encounter of an individual and her response to her life and lives surrounding her, which leaves the reader to deduce for themselves how events effected society in a non-bias type of way. From these memoirs, Heian Society can be dissected from the stand point of an outsider looking in, instead of a history book telling the reader what it was like. The writer doesn't explain the society and events that she faces;

When people want to watch a movie that is based on a book, they usually read the book first. Well, why on earth do they do that? Well, see sometimes even though they have the same plot, sometimes things can be changed. Whether it being for entertainment purposes, or to make the film shorter or longer, things usually will be changed when creating a movie inspired by a book. People probably have a few titles come to mind when they think about this, but a good example is “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens and the movie “A Christmas Carol” by Jim Carrey. Though both forms of literature are based off of the same plot, they do have their fair share of differences and similarities like any other adaption to a book. An example of this would be

They worked alot indoors and outdoors. They were expected to do housework like taking care of the infants. Athenian women also had the responsibility of maintaining the fields. Women did have some rights such as being able to divorce their husbands and remarry. The downfall of this right was that their new husband would not trust them. The women had to obey their husbands and do as they were told. “The courage of a man is seen in commanding, of a woman in obeying -Aristotle, Works, circa 350 BCE” (Doc. Q). Just as in the Athenian Empire, in Han China the women were expected to be obedient to their husbands. Their women had to be humble, must be diligent, and must be continuing the sacrifices. “There has never been a woman who had these traits and yet ruined her reputation or fell into disgrace on the other hand, if a woman lacked these traits, she will have no name to preserve and will not be able to avoid shame” (Doc. R). In this period of time most empires lived in a patriarchal society where the man was the one in charge making women seem like the lesser being. Women in both empires had their distinct ways of showing their loyalty to men but in the end they were viewed the same way.

One of the most difficult aspects of any given historiography, is in the distinction between the ideals of a society, and that of actuality. While sources may represent the specifics that people may have aspired to, in everyday life, things would naturally become more complicated. Of particular note of this can be seen when dealing with the societal expectations of gender. Throughout the selected passages, about homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan, the personal writings of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, and excerpts from Song Ruozhao’s Analectics for Women, it can be seen that although each society had its own concepts of gender, once can see that the actual implementation did not always run parallel.

The major periods that shaped Japan’s history and future were the Heian-era of Aristocracy and the Kamakura period of Samurai. The Heian-era and the Kamakura period are interesting because of their differences in social structure, tradition, and culture. In the Heian era, the aristocrat’s social class was sought by many because of their social and cultural status. When the warrior rise in the Kamakura age the social classes change dramatically between aristocrat and warrior. The Heian-era (794-1191) was an age of self development in Japan’s culture and tradition. Before the Heian-era, Japan

The Heian court of medieval Japan was a progressive and dynamic society where women commanded a fair amount of power and respect. In many ways it seemed to be the basis of the "rank n file", material culture of today’s society. The social structure of society throughout the court was set up in three different ranks. In chapter two, Genji’s friend, To no Chujo explained the three roles and how they determined the role of women in court. Women of high rank would be the wife of a high ranking elite, thus responsible for raising the future heirs, women of lower rank were concubines and often had better relationships with the man than his wife. did It was this complicated ranking system that led to the abundance of accepted promiscuity, however the two roles kept a bit of stability and normalcy throughout the court.

More directly, Tsurumi states “for the majority of peasant families survival was impossible without women and their work” (Tsurumi, 16). This makes the importance of Japanese women to their households during the period of history prior to the Meiji Era indisputable. Nevertheless, even as familial roles changed during Japan’s shift to a money economy, the support women provided to their families remained steadfast, as the earnings they made at factories were often sent back to their homes to support their families. As the need for women to find jobs that could pay them in cash grew, the potential for women to help support their families, or the ability to reel “for the sake of the nation” attracted women and girls to the first silk reeling mill in Tomioka. Tsurumi affirms this by saying “service to the nation, family economic interest, or a combination of the two brought young women to Tomioka to become part of a proud elite striving both for national goals and for regional prosperity” (Tsurumi, 30). By portraying the act of working for a textile mill as a service to both their families and to their country, Tsurumi furthers the idea that the women of the time were heroes of their era. However, as

Therefore, because of women's role as child-bearers, women in the Heian times were considered to have quite an important role to play in politics. As Richard Bowring puts it, women were regarded as ‘vital pawns', where their purpose was to deliver a boy to inherit the power and legacy of the family 8. In this sense, the Empress has a large amount of power. However, regardless of a women's position, there is always a male with a higher position – her father, the emperor etc. Even so, this is not to say that men are not dependent on women. This inescapable cycle of life and men's dependency on women is what grants women their power within the court.

In traditional Chinese culture, women were inferior to men. They were not allowed to make any decisions concerning their families. Their only purpose in life was to stay home and take care of the households. "A woman's duties are to cook the five grains, heat the wine, look after her parents-in-law, make clothes, and that's all! ...she must follow the `three submissions.' When she is young, she must submit to her parents. After her marriage, she must submit to her husband. When she is widowed, she must submit to her son. These are the rules of propriety." ("The Mother Of Mencius", p.34) That's the principle that was followed in traditional China. Some of the examples of this are discussed in this

During the Renaissance, many writers were authoring "how-to" books. At the same time, mail correspondence was the main form of communication. This gives readers and historians the golden opportunity to perform some comparisons, and to paint a picture of what life was like in the renaissance. In The Book of the Family Leon Battista Alberti illustrates to his readers through dialogue, his vision of the perfect family. Alberti wrote his book in dialogue form, featuring the elder Giannozzo conversing with the young Leonardo. They discuss important family topics such as thrift, friendship, work, health, housing, economics, children and how and whom to choose as a wife. Alberti stresses thrift with family resources and money, hard work in

Loyalty and love play a definitive role in this early medieval period. It is important to give these to one's friends, lord, and community. However, the love of a woman is not significant here. The romantic love between man and woman is not a trait of the early medieval society; that is to come later. Roland captures the strength of love and loyalty in many ways. As previously stated, The Song of Roland clearly depicts the loyalty between a lord and his vassals. It also shows how going against one's lord, and more importantly, one's community went against the set code of conduct for a vassal. Early on, the writer shows the treachery of Ganelon, including the significance of this betrayal by the loss of the great Peers of Francia. The end of the poem completes Charlemagne's revenge of Roland's death when, for his treason, Ganelon must suffer death. However, the kings obligation is not easily accomplished because the nobles of his realm wish to have Ganelon go free instead of face Pinabel, Ganelon's "champion". The pain of these treacheries cuts Charlemagne to the heart, yet they go beyond just Charlemagne. They are injustices against the community as a whole. After trial by ordeal, the custom of two warriors fighting each other with God deciding the winner, the king's revenge can

   Though more than two hundred years have separated Sei Shonagon and Marie de France, the scene is much the same. A courtly lady sits in a candle-lit room, with her writing hand poised above a book of parchment. Her face brightens in an instant of inspiration and she scribbles furiously onto the paper. This woman is closely associated with the royal court and is something of an anachronism, a woman author in a male-dominated world. The scene pictured here could have taken place in either Shonagon's late tenth century Japan or the twelfth century France of Marie de France. The differences that exist between these two authors are a result of their differing cultures and personalities.

Roland, an expert military leader shows many different qualities such as his heroicness, his pride, and his loyalty to his uncle King Charlemagne. Roland and Oliver his best friend work through many struggles in this book.