Tahei shows his unsavory arrogance further when he taunts and insults a samurai (Jihei's disguised brother) (176). Later he finds Jihei tied up and drubs him violently (182).
Meanwhile, Jihei's life is falling apart. His business is on the rocks, nearing bankruptcy. He laments: "I've neglected my parents, relatives -- even my wife and children -- and wrecked my fortune, all because I was deceived by Koharu" (184). At home, he sleeps as the business sinks. Osan, his devoted wife, is a boring creature who looks after their shop and domestic matters (186). Her aunt-in-law blames her for the trouble and disgrace of the family (188). Jihei's brother tries several times to advise him to stop his socially threatening romance with Koharu. He believes the affair mortifies their family name. During an intervention, Jihei promises in writing never to see Koharu again, a promise made under the false impression that she is a traitorous witch who has deceived and rejected him.
Osan's hope for a renewed marriage is dashed quickly. Jihei counters her by saying that he is upset because of Koharu's betrayal of him, which he blames on not having the ransom money. As a result of poverty, his rival can ransom her. He cries, "My heart is broken and my body burns with shame" (191). Osan courageously reveals her secret, keeping her obligation to the courtesan. She admits to scheming in a letter that begged Koharu not to suicide. Koharu broke the relationship out of honorable obligation to Osan: "She answered that she would give you up, though you were more precious than life itself, because she could not shirk her duty to me" (192). Osan sees her rival as noble, committed, and bound for death rather than marry the rival Tahei (192). As a result of this exchange, Osan commands that her husband go and save the courtesan's life. She gives him the money for it -- money she's saved away by selling her own clothes. Thus we see her dedication to duty and to her husband. She would...
Her motive is honor. She says: "It doesn't matter if the children and I have nothing to wear. My husband's reputation concerns me more. . . . Assert your honor before Tahei" (193). The crucial consideration here, just as with the previous play, is that the husband is granted priority out of a dutiful need to preserve family honor, not out of feeling. By contrast, the courtesan and husband act together from feeling. What is key is the contradiction between marital obligation and affection achievable only through the courtesan in the social world of the characters. It is the contrast of commanded love vs. chosen love. Yet the husband cannot resist feeling guilty since he is indebted to his wife's generosity. He shows finally an attitude of respect and obligation, even love. Just before he departs, she hugs him affectionately, not knowing that the ultimate result will be the suicides of husband and courtesan.
In this analysis from two of Chikamatsu's plays, the tension between dutiful marriage and passionate romance is central. Wives are shown to act heroically from duty against their feelings to preserve the reputation of their husbands. The interchange between courtesans and wives is shown to be based on gender obligation. The financial problems of the husbands lead them down ruinous paths that are ultimately resolved either in the salvation of love or in love suicide. What comes to light in the two analyzed "floating world" romances of Chikamatsu is how they offer a powerful glimpse into the dynamics of honor, love, and money in the urban social history of Japan at that time. Much about that history is embedded in microcosm in these narratives.
Bibliography
Chikamatsu. (1961). Four Major Plays of Chikamatsu. Donald Keene (Trans.). New York: Columbia University Press.
Downer, Lesley. (2001). Women of the Pleasure Quarters: The Secret History of the Geisha. New…
