The Fragrant Companions: A Play about Love Between Women

Description

Two young gentry women meet by chance at a nunnery in Yangzhou, where they fall in love at first sight. After they exchange poetry and recognize each other's literary talents, their emotional bond deepens. They conduct a mock wedding ceremony at the nunnery and hatch a plan to spend the rest of their lives together. Their schemes are stymied by a series of obstacles, but in the end the two women find an unlikely resolution-a m�nage-�-trois marriage. The Fragrant Companions is the most significant work of literature that portrays female same-sex love in the entire premodern Chinese tradition. Written in 1651 by Li Yu, one of the most inventive and irreverent literary figures of seventeenth-century China, this play is at once an unconventional romantic comedy, a barbed satire, and a sympathetic portrayal of love between women. It offers a sensitive portrait of the two women's passion for each other, depicts their intellectual pursuits and resourcefulness, and celebrates their partial triumph over social convention. At the same time, Li caustically mocks the imperial examination system and deflates the idealized image of the male scholar. The Fragrant Companions is both an indispensable source for students and scholars of gender and sexuality in premodern China and a compelling work of literature for all readers interested in China's rich theatrical traditions. Cover 10.7312_li--20628-fm 10.7312_li--20628-toc 10.7312_li--20628-001 10.7312_li--20628-002 10.7312_li--20628-003 10.7312_li--20628-004 10.7312_li--20628-005 10.7312_li--20628-006 10.7312_li--20628-007 10.7312_li--20628-008 10.7312_li--20628-009 10.7312_li--20628-010 10.7312_li--20628-011 10.7312_li--20628-012 10.7312_li--20628-013 10.7312_li--20628-014 10.7312_li--20628-015 10.7312_li--20628-016 10.7312_li--20628-017 10.7312_li--20628-018 10.7312_li--20628-019 10.7312_li--20628-020 10.7312_li--20628-021 10.7312_li--20628-022 10.7312_li--20628-023 10.7312_li--20628-024 10.7312_li--20628-025 10.7312_li--20628-026 10.7312_li--20628-027 10.7312_li--20628-028 10.7312_li--20628-029 10.7312_li--20628-030 10.7312_li--20628-031 10.7312_li--20628-032 10.7312_li--20628-033 10.7312_li--20628-034 10.7312_li--20628-035 10.7312_li--20628-036 10.7312_li--20628-037 10.7312_li--20628-038 10.7312_li--20628-039 10.7312_li--20628-040 10.7312_li--20628-041 10.7312_li--20628-042 10.7312_li--20628-043 10.7312_li--20628-044 10.7312_li--20628-045 Пустая страница Пустая страница