Social Status In The Heian Era Essay
Oscar Kuo
JPN101 First Essay
Professor Gundry
November 4, 2015
Importance of Social Status
The Heian period was the highpoint of Japanese aristocratic culture, a golden age of peace and harmony. Upper class men and women were expected to dress well. Poetry was often used to communicate between men and women. However, even though aristocratic women had considerable freedoms during the Heian period, they were still not treated as equals to men. The Kagero Diary translated by Sonja Arntzen, and The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon both depict the inequality of women and men and the importance of social status in the Heian society. The author of The Kagero Diary lived in the middle of Heian period, a time when Japan was peaceful and isolated from the outside world. Similarly, women’s society also had an isolated quality. Since the “aristocratic society within the capital was very
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