Journal numba 6

Chiyo is now a full-fledged geisha apprentice under the watchful eye of Mameha.  She is making appearances at teahouses in order to get her name out there so that when she is named a geisha she has connections. In this section of the reading we see the true cut throat actions of Hatsumomo toward Chiyo, who will soon be a competitor of hers. Hatsumomo follows Mameha and Chiyo through Gion trying to steal their parties and customers. Upon their departure Hatsumomo proceeds to speak badly of Chiyo in order to ruin her reputation with the men for the future.

Not only are the men asserting authority over the women in Memoirs of a Geisha, but also superior women over inferior women. This industry is demeaning in our eyes as westerners but for some this is their career. They take their looks, customers, and reputation very seriously and will do anything to ensure these things are not tainted. I have, although I am reading a book from two separate cultures, to just research feminism in the US throughout the decades. I would like to research women’s roles in society as times change and society accepts different things.

Journal numba 5

                Since Chiyo was found looking for her sister she has been taken out of geisha lessons and is sentenced to life as a maid. She will forever be indebted to the oikya because of all of her wrongdoings. She decides she has nothing to lose at this point so she sneaks out to meet her sister but is turned in and returned buy the neighboring oikya who finds her in their courtyard. She is beaten and shunned. In time she learns that her mother has passed away and that her sister ran away from her house and has married back in their hometown. Chiyo has no resources to draw on so she decides she will be obedient and work in the oikya for financial stability. Granny, the oikya elder, falls to a sudden death as well in this portion of the reading so the town of Gion shows up for the visitation where Chiyo meets Hatsumomo’s arch enemy, Mameha.  Mameha seeks to take Chiyo out of servitude and mentor her to be a geisha. It is at that moment that Chiyo has a life ahead of her. She trains at a Geisha school, shadows Mameha, and learns how to act the part. Chiyo has a prosperous life ahead of her as she is about to be debuted as Mameha’s “sister”.

                Although male dominance is still an overlaying theme in both of my novels, Memoirs of a Geisha reveals an underlying theme as well. To Western culture, the art of being a geisha seems demeaning. It is almost like a glorified prostitute; females serving men for money. But, in Memoirs of a Geisha being a geisha is a well respected career path. Yes, men are still in control and men are still using the women, but to a woman a geisha is powerful and beautiful because she can make a man “swoon”. Because Japanese culture is so different from ours it is hard to grasp these activities as normal.

Journal numba 4

           Memoirs of a Geisha has been a riveting and page-turning novel thus far. I have been introduced to the main character Chiyo-chan who is working in an okiya by force, learning the ropes of being a geisha.  She is under the mentorship of one of the best geishas in town, Hatsumomo, who is intimidated by Chiyo’s beauty and potential for the industry. Chiyo has been warned by Auntie to not trust a thing that Hatsumomo does or says because her sole purpose is to destroy her. Chiyo doesn’t see through Hatsumomo’s supposed “kindness” and finds herself at the mercy of Mother, who is repeatedly beating her for her misbehavior. Chiyo’s hunt for her older sister continues as she searches through a neighboring town against okiya rules for her home. She finds her working as a prostitute against her will in a house with other women. Both of the girls plan to escape their life of misery and return to their father and mother soon.

          I have again noticed a theme of male superiority in this novel, as well as Daughter of Fortune. The life of a geisha from a western point of view is one that is demeaning. Women are there to entertain the men, some being disloyal to their wives, while making money for it. This sense of female inferiority is more severe in Memoirs of a Geisha, but none the less evident. I have chosen feminism through the decades as my theme for my research project because it is an overlaying theme in both novels.

Journal numba 3

                I am now through part one of Daughter of Fortune and am fully immersed in the plot line thus far. Eliza now has a sturdy dowry that her guardians are happy with, so they begin searching for a husband for her. Miss Rose looks for a man who comes from a good family name, wealth, and class. Miss Rose finds the perfect match, Mr. Steward. He is a sailor who is of athletic build and great service. The girls begin the courting process but the plan backfires when Michael Steward misinterprets Miss Rose’s nice favors as love for him. Miss Rose realizes that he never had feelings for Eliza, only for her.

                Also in my recent reading, I learned of Miss Rose’s youth before she journeyed to Chile with Jeremy. She was a young aspiring opera singer who fell in love with and older accomplished performer, Karl Bretzner. While his show is in town they fall in love and share intimacy. When it is time for him to depart the two of them take a farewell trip to Vienna where secrets about Karl are revealed. When Jeremy comes to rescue Rose and bring her home to Vienna, he slips the secret of Karl’s wife and two kids to Rose. Filled with feelings of betrayal and anger Rose stays with her aunt in Scotland for a period of time in order to get over her love, and let the rumors back home settle down. When she returns home to England she is a girl of independence and no emotions on the topic of love.

                The topic of gender superiority surfaced yet again in my reading. This theme is illustrated through Karl’s love affair with Miss Rose. He is in a relationship and confessing his love to her, mean while he has a family waiting for him back at home. This shows his feelings of invincibility being a man more powerful than his wife. He knows that if his wife has a desire to thrive and prosper she would never leave him or her children. For Miss Rose, her walking away from him in Vienna is the ultimate display of independent womanhood. She is declaring herself as a strong woman who can walk away from a man and still live her life. This is refreshing to see because all through the reading the female characters speak of men as their only means to survival in the real world.  

Journal Numba 2

Since I last journaled, Jacob Todd has arrived in Chile bet that he can’t sell 300 bibles to the people there. He makes a special connection with the Sommer’s family, especially Rose Sommer’s. Jacob has a crush on Rose and would love to confess that to her but is intimidated by her single life and lack of interest in marriage. He gets over his crush on Rose and falls for a girl of privilege, Paulina. He never confesses his love to her either so he sits in the shadow again as she marries a Chilean man. Eliza, now grown into a young woman, has Jeremy and Rose worried with regards to a dowry for marriage. The community knows that she is an adopted, under privileged child who will not be courted by someone of wealth and status. Jeremy and Rose take it upon themselves to bulk up her dowry in order to make her more appealing to outsiders. She is a work in progress at this point.  Jacob Todd is discovered as being a false titled missionary in turn ruining his reputation and his savings. He was then picked up off the streets and offered a place to stay by Jeremy Sommer’s. As I continued reading the continuing theme of gender roles in society prevailed. This theme was personified by Paulina’s relationship with her husband. Paulina gains more and more independence both in business and in finance and her husband takes offense to it. She brought much profit to her husbands business through her good sense in the stock market therefore she suggested she receive a profit. This independence causes turmoil in their relationship. “Why? Don’t I give you everything that you want, and more?” (Husband) The male in the relationship desires the power and control over the actions and responsibilities of the woman. Paulina, in her case, is just doing it for means of protection. “Life is long and filled with unpleasant surprises. I do not ever want to be a penniless widow, especially not with children.” In this time period it is painfully obvious that men are subordinate to women.

Reading Daughter of Fortune as a girl of similar age to Eliza makes this all the more interesting. Because I am her age the situations of gender issues are more interesting. I can imagine myself as young Eliza and how different my life would be. Living in the 1800’s would definitely be a different lifestyle than one that I am used to.

Journal numba 1

I have begun reading Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. The plot begins as we are introduced to Eliza, a young girl left on the front porch of the Sommer’s family as a baby. She grows up with a brother and sister pair, Rose and Jeremy, as her guardians. Rose is a young and free-willed woman where as her brother Jeremy is a strict business man who wanted nothing to do with Eliza. As the years pass Jeremy learns to tolerate her and Rose takes an immediate liking to her, treating her as her “doll” while playing house. Rose, never fond of marriage, took on the role as the woman of the house at her brothers home. There is a continuous reference to femininity when describing the clothing that Eliza is dressed in and the wealthy activities she takes part in, such as dancing and formal education. As well, gender roles play a large part in my reading thus far. “It is a man’s nature to be savage; it is a woman’s destiny to preserve moral values and good conduct.” In the British colony in Chile, the woman plays the part of homemaker, while the men work and provide. Rose, even though the sister, manages the home. “She had good taste and effortless grace; she put a polish on both of their lives…” Jeremy was a hard-working, serious, young man who worked in shipping in Valparaiso, Chile.  He had no interest in human relations; actually, they made him nervous. Deep down he loved watching Eliza play but he would never admit it. Thus far the issue of gender roles has been a dominant theme carried throughout the events of Daughter of Fortune.