Japanese Literature

The Tale Of Genji: What’s Inside The World’s First novel?

The Tale Of Genji Summary & Story Analysis

The Tale of Genji is the world’s first novel written by famous Japanese woman author Murasaki Shikibu. The novel was written in the early 11th century. The novel is made with Concertina or Orion style. The novel was published before 1021. It is divided into three parts. Arthur Waley, Edward Seidensticker, Royall Tyler, and Dennis Washburn translated the novel into English.

I came here to describe the summary and analyze the story with the article below. If you are also interested in knowing the world’s famous novel’s summary, stay with me till the last part of the article. Let’s start.

The Writer Of The Tale Of Genji

The writer of The Tale of Genji is Murasaki Shikibu, a Japanese novelist born in 973 AD. She was also a poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court during the Heian period. She studied Chinese transcription with her brother, and she also wrote some books in Chinese. Her personal life was so orthodox. She lost her husband untimely.

She spent the rest of her life with her brother, and she wrote some books which were so important for Japanese literature. She is best known for the novel The Tale of Genji. She contributed a significant role to the literature of Japan. Murasaki Shikibu may have died in 1014 when she was 41 years old.

The Tale Of Genji Summary & Story Analysis

Main Plot Of The Tale Of Genji

The Tale of Genji is divided into 54 chapters and three main sections. Genji is the main character of the story. The story describes Genji’s romantic life and the customs of the patrician society of the time. He is the son of the emperor of Kiritsubo. Genji is an unusually bonnie and talented younger man. His mother dies at that time when he was three years old.

In this case, the emperor marries another woman who was known to his deceased concubine. As a stepmother, Genji loves her. After a few times, Genji loves her as a woman, and they fell in love with each other. Genji is disappointed by his contraband love for the lady Fujitsubo. He involves in a series of love facts with other women.

When Genji visits a rural area of Kyoto, he finds a beautiful ten-year-old girl. The girl engrosses Genji, and he unfolds that she is the niece of the lady Fujitsubo. Genji kidnaps the girl and educates her. At the time, Genji also goes to see the lady Fujitsubo in secrecy. At the time, his son Reizei bears, and everyone confides that Emperor is the father of the son Reizei without the two lovers. They keep undercover the real identity of the child.

When the Emperor knows that secret fact, he is firstly angry with Genji, but the emperor forgives him. In this case, Genji returns to Kyoto, and then he discovers that Reizei becomes Kyoto’s emperor. The new emperor Reizei knows that Genji is his birth father, enhancing his father, Genji.

At the time, Genji becomes 40 years old. In this case, his life begins to decay and incrementally begins to decline his romantic and emotional life. He marries another woman. It changes the relationship with Murasaki, who Genji rejected. Murasaki, who was beloved by Genji, dies, and following the chapter implies the death of Genji.

Story Analysis Of The Tale Of Genji

The Tale of Genji is the first novel in the world. The novel was written at that time when the condition of the Japanese was so isolated. In the story, there is a son’s love and emotional life who was the emperor’s son. He is Genji, who is the main character of the story. Genji is a lovely and romantic young man. At the age of three, his mother has died. His stepmother is the second wife of the emperor.

After some days, Genji falls in love with his stepmother Fujitsubo. In this situation, Genji abandons the kingdom and marries Fujitsubo. On the other hand, Genji also marries another woman Murasaki. After a few years, Fujitsubo breeds a son named Reizei. The son’s birth father is Genji, but everyone knows that the emperor is the son’s father.

However, After a few years, Reizei becomes the emperor of the kingdom, and he has known that Genji is his birth father. Genji returns to Kyoto and his son to ameliorate his father’s rank. Incrementally Genji decays his life, and the last chapter implies the death of Genji. The story is so human and substantive as a story that reminds the reader of many stories.

It is the main summary of the world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji. In reality, there is described Genji’s life tale. After analyzing the synopsis of the novel The Tale of Genji, I came to the final part of the article. So, riders, now come to inform your feelings or opinion by adding a comment below after reading the whole article. How are your feelings after reading the summary of the novel? Don’t forget to inform me by comment.

If you have any questions about the thesis, please leave a comment. If you want more related novel summaries or any information related to the topic, you can visit our other pages or leave a comment. Thank you for remaining with me and visiting the site in the long run.

Japanesepdf Staff
Hi, I'm a random staff of the JapanesePDF; whenever my other co-workers are busy with other works, I write articles for you. So that, you miss no information. Hope you will like to read my articles too!

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