a literary theme
Edición de la obra The Chinese virago
| Autor | Yenna Wu |
|---|---|
| Editorial | Council on East Asian Studies, Harvard University, distributed by Harvard University Press, Harvard University Asia Center |
| Fecha de publicación | 1995 |
| Lugar | Cambridge, Mass |
| Idioma | inglés |
| Páginas | 312 |
| ISBN-10 | 067412572X |
| OCLC | 32275065 |
| LCCN | 95013353 |
| Serie | Harvard-Yenching Institute monograph series ; · 40 |
| Número de Cutter |
W959c |
Drawing from a broad array of literary, historical, dramatic and anecdotal sources, Yenna Wu makes a rich exploration of an unusually prominent theme in premodern Chinese prose fiction and drama: that of jealous and belligerent wives, or viragos, who dominate their husbands and abuse other women. Focusing on Chinese literary works from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, she presents many colorful perspectives on this type of aggression, reviewing early literary and historical examples of the phenomenon. Wu argues that although the various portraits of the virago often reveal the writers' insecurities about strong-willed women in general, the authors also satirize the kind of man whose behavioral patterns have been catalysts for female aggression. She also shows that, while the women in these works are to some extent male constructs designed to affirm the patriarchal system, various elements of these portraits constitute a subversive form of parody that casts a revealing light on the patriarchal hierarchy of premodern China.