World's First Novelist: Lady Murasaki Shikibu - Page 2

Pretty and coy, shrinking from sight, unsociable, fond of old tales, conceited, so wrapped up in poetry that other people hardly exist, spitefully looking down on the whole world - such is the unpleasant opinion that people have of me. Yet when they come to know me they say that I am strangely gentle, quite unlike what they had been led to believe. I know that people look down on me like some old outcast, but I have become accustomed to all this, and tell myself, 'My nature is as it is.'

With equanimity and quiet determination, Lady Murasaki continued with the work for which her name would go down in history. Most of The Tale of Genji flowed from her pen while she lived at court, though some of it may have been written before that time. The story of Prince Genji, "the Shining Prince," perfectly captures court life, relationships between men and women, lust and intrigue at the height of Heian Japan. Many of the characters were drawn from the people around her and the situations from those she observed. She used prince Genji to voice some of her own feelings, as when Genji explains that a writer must write to express an "emotion so passionate that he can no longer keep it shut up in his heart." The Tale of Genji is a very long novel that was written, bound and circulated at court in separate chapters, which accounts for the fact that the story does not always flow well. It achieved instant success and inspired beautiful illustrations of the story, both of which have travelled the lengths of time to be appreciated in this modern era.

What happened to Lady Murasaki after the story was written remains a mystery. The date given for her death is 1025, but that is only because her name is on a list of ladies in waiting from 1025, but is not on a similar list put out in 1031. Whether she retired from court life or actually died may never be known. It is enough to know that the modern novelist owes a bow and a thank you to the Lady Murasaki Shikibu.