82 pages • 2 hours read
Murasaki ShikibuThe Tale Of Genji
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Prologue-Chapter 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Prologue Summary: “Genji on the Art of Fiction”
In the Royall Tyler abridged translation of The Tale of Genji, the edition begins with a Prologue excerpt, taken from the twenty-fifth chapter of the text (which is a chapter not included in this edition). The excerpt features a conversation between Genji and Tamakazura, Yugao’s daughter, as she is copying a tale during the rainy season.
When Genji discovers the girl’s activity and love of the illustrated tales, he jokes with her about how easily fooled she is to believe the stories are real: “There is hardly a word of truth in all this, as you know perfectly well, but you are caught up in fables, taking them quite seriously and writing away […]” (1).
Tamakazura retorts that since Genji is a liar, he will see lies in all places. Realizing he has been misunderstood, and now rather amused, Genji clarifies he has been “very rude to speak ill to you of tales!” (2), and continues to specify his deeper thoughts on the value of fictional stories: “Not that tales accurately describe any particular person; rather, the telling begins when all those things the teller longs to have pass on to future generations […] it is wrong always to dismiss what one finds in tales is false […]” (2).
Chapter 1 Summary: "The Paulownia Pavilion” [Kiritsubo] – (Abridged Chapter)
The chapters included in this edition of The Tale of Genji are told in third-person, from the point of view of the self-referencing, nameless female narrator. The chapters are often named after the main setting for that particular chapter, the central character of that chapter, and/or nature imagery related to the chapter’s action. For instance, the story’s first chapter is named for both of Genji’s parents, the Emperor Kiritsubo and his concubine (Lady Kiritsubo). Their name meaning is "The Paulownia Pavilion,” denoting the tree found in the garden of the palace building, where Genji’s mother lives.
Genji’s mother, Lady Kiritsubo, is a low-ranking concubine of the Emperor. Despite her best efforts to remain out of conflict, she draws the animosity of the other members of court due to the Emperor’s genuine affection for her, despite her inferior social status. However, the Emperor (His Majesty) is devoted to her and thrilled with his new son with her, Genji: “His majesty must have had a deep bond with her in past lives, as well, for she gave him a wonderfully handsome son” (5). This love for Genji and his mother, though, only fuels the wrath of the Emperor’s higher-ranking Kokiden Consort, one of his partners who has already given him a son, Suzaku. She is determined to see that Suzaku becomes Heir Apparent some day, rather than ever see Genji ascend to the throne.
As Genji grows, his manner and charm even as a child convince his father to keep him as close as possible, and defend his new son from the criticisms of other court members, such as the Kokiden Consort. However, no longer able to bear the increased humiliations and harassment of the others in court, Genji’s mother, Lady Kiritsubo, becomes increasingly ill. She dies when Genji is 3 years old. The Emperor is devastated by this loss, while Kokiden Consort is frustrated with how deeply he mourns someone she viewed to be a “blight on one’s existence” (8). Now that Lady Kiritsubo is dead, the Kokiden Consort turns her vendetta on the young Genji, concerned Genji will win the Emperor’s favor and be heir over her own son, Suzaku.
The Emperor eventually demotes Genji—an act of protection, not punishment—making him an official commoner with the surname Minamoto.This act allows Genji to avoid the potential political downfall he would face if he were kept royalty. Additionally, as a commoner Genji can remain in service to his father. In Genji’s seventh year, he performs his first public reading, for the Korean embassy. He does such a brilliant job, the Emperor exclaims to everyone how impossible it is to dislike such a child, and begs others to be nice to the boy, as he has no mother. The third-person narrative voice reinforces the Emperor’s statements, confirming for the reader how “charmingly distinguished in manner” (9) Genji is as a boy, so that no one can resist his presence.
While the Emperor nearly comes to believe he will never again find a lady he cares for as much as Genji’s mother, he receives news of a former princess, Lady Fujitsubo, who looks very similar to the lost Lady Kiritsubo. His Majesty (the Emperor) happily welcomes her into the palace. The Emperor encourages Fujitsubo to look after Genji as she would a son, and they do indeed resemble each other, as she bears such a resemblance to his true mother:
“Genji’s looks had an indescribably fresh sweetness, one beyond even Fujitsubo’s celebrated and, to the Emperor, peerless beauty, and this moved people to call him the Shining Lord. Since Fujitsubo made a pair with him, and His Majesty loved them both, they called her the Sunlight Princess.” (13)
Soon after Genji’s twelfth year, he attends his coming-of-age ceremony. His father the Emperor is deeply moved to think Genji will never again be this youthful, but he knows Genji must begin the process into adulthood and be married soon to a young lady from a high-ranking family. Princess Aoi is chosen to be his wife, even though Genji is 12 and Aoi is 16. She is the daughter of the powerful Minister of the Left and this bond provides Genji political support. The ceremony continues with gifts and offerings throughout the celebration.
As Genji grows into adolescence, his childhood crush on Fujitsubo (his father’s favorite consort) grows stronger. Genji is now moved into living in his mother’s restored home. There, he begins believing Fujitsubo is the kind of woman he wants to marry when he grows up, and dreams of “a true love to come and live with him there” (17).
Prologue-Chapter 1 Analysis
The Prologue is excerpted from Chapter 25, and it is not chronologically connected to Chapter 1; however, in this edition, the two sections work well together since they both lay the groundwork for three main narrative pillars of the text: understanding the storytellermode of Shikibu’s unnamed female narrative voice; outlining expectations for the personality of our title character, Genji; and immediately acquainting readers with the social values of the Heian period of Japan (794-1185 AD).
While the Prologue establishes adult Genji as charismatic, confident, and good-humored, it also hints at his tendency towards deception in adult life. Young Tamakazura infers Genji is inherently a liar, which is why he interprets all tale-telling as lies.When Genji quickly corrects her on his thoughts concerning the art of fiction—that “tales” can express deep truths, even within make-believe—readers are prepared for how charming Genji is capable of being as an adult.
While this Prologue hints the older Genji is both well-intentioned and also not fully trustworthy in the eyes of women, this section also works as a foreshadowing of what is to come after Chapter 1. The first chapter (following the Prologue) repeatedly mentions Genji’s remarkable magnetism, even in childhood, and how the Emperor protects him due to this indescribable brilliance and beauty, as well as his love for Genji’s lost mother.
Through several mentions of Genji’s irresistible nature in Chapter 1, the narrator repeatedly shows how Genji is almost beyond reproach and failure, even as a child. However, because of the addition of the Prologue before the first chapter, readers know to expect an older Genji who has created a less-than-ideal reputation for himself by late adulthood.
