A Comparison of Sei Shonagon and Marie de France Essay -- comparison c

A Comparison of Sei Shonagon and Marie de France Though to a greater extent than two hundred age have separated Sei Shonagon and Marie de France, the scene is much the same. A courtly peeress sits in a candle-lit room, with her writing hand poised above a book of parchment. Her face brightens in an instant of inspiration and she scribbles furiously onto the paper. This cleaning woman is closely associated with the royal court and is something of an anachronism, a woman author in a male-dominated world. The scene pictured here could have taken butt in either Shonagons late tenth century Japan or the twelfth century France of Marie de France. The differences that exist between these two authors atomic number 18 a result of their differing cultures and personalities. Marie de France writes as a product of her time, expressing herself through her characters, while retention in mind the mandates of the church. Sei Shonagon is ruled by no such mandates and as a result wrote with me rciless honesty. Accordingly, the structure, diction and imagery used by each author reflects her own distinct personality and values. Sei Shonagon is most sanitary known for her Pillow Book, a collection of her personal thoughts and observations during her time at court. The structure, or lack thereof, in this work gives the reader a glint at Shonagons personality. She writes in short bursts, giving the mini-chapters such titles as The slip Screen in the Back of the Hall, Hateful Things, and Oxen Should Have truly Small Foreheads. The titles are representative of her tendency to write at length on subjects that may seem inconsequential, or as the author admits in the last segment of the Pillow Book, most shadowy. In fact, these so-called trivial observations provide a s... ...es and cultures. One author is governed by her strict organized religion and adherence to the church, the other by her own strongly-held opinions. Each womans writing clearly reflects her own distinct personality and temperament Marie de France, more eager and spiritual, Sei Shonagon, more satirical and opinionated. Both courtly ladies seem faithful to their own beliefs and pondering of their time and culture. Works Cited Sei Shonagon. The Pillow Book. Trans. Richard Bowring. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded Edition. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York W.W. Norton & Co. 1995. 2191-2218. on the whole quotations are from this text. De France, Marie. Eliduc. Trans. John Fowles. The Norton Anthology of World Masterpieces. Expanded Edition. Ed. Maynard Mack. New York W.W. Norton & Co. 1995. 1680-1692. All quotations are from this text.