Rereading Rashomon : From the Old Woman's Viewpoint

DOI Web Site

Bibliographic Information

Other Title
  • 「羅生門」論 : 老婆の視座から
  • ラショウモン ロン ロウバ ノ シザ カラ

Search this article

Abstract

Few readers of Rashomon have any sympathy with the fleeced old woman. Far from it, the protagonist's act of fleecing assures us that every human being is egoistic, the product of original sin. I think that this may have resulted in justifying egoism and feeding a callous and cruel attitude towards the weaker. Here precisely in this light, I will reread the text. When the penniless protagonist, undecided what to do, encountered the old woman at Rashomon, it could have become a moment of rebirth for him. But this never happened. Instead of thinking of the position of the socially inferior and why she could not avoid committing evil, he, on the same lower level of society, repeats the stronger's cruelty and violence towards her. Such an ethical theme, however, is made obscure by the narrative structure, because it doesn't foreground the point of view of the old woman.

Journal

Details 詳細情報について

Report a problem

Back to top