The Geisha - 1551 Words

Geisha The geisha has been the subject of innumerable books and films focusing on the myth of the profession and the culture in which she represented. Various portrayals of the geisha have focused on different aspects of their lifestyle and the different versions also have varying degrees of accuracy in their depictions. In three different films and one book, four different groups try to explain exactly what it was like for people who lived as geishas or alongside these women. Some versions of the story portray the geisha life as a very pleasant one where the role of geisha was an honored title. Others, like Memoirs of a Geisha paint this existence in a more unpleasant life, equating geisha with high class prostitution. Some tell the fantasy version of geisha-hood through a modern and decidedly western sensibility and use the profession as a form of othering the Japanese people, while the others tell a far more realistic and eastern perspective of the same topic. The films to be discussed are: Madame Butterfly, the Barbarian and the Geisha, and Memoirs of a Geisha. The book is an autobiography of a real life geisha, written by Sayo Matsuda. In one of the first films to portray a geisha, Madame Butterfly tells the story of a young geisha who falls in love with an American who marries her and impregnates her, only to abandon her to marry a proper, white wife. This marriage, unlike the one to the geisha Cho-Cho San is the one that counts for the American, namedShow MoreRelatedMemoirs of a Geisha by Athur Golden585 Words   |  2 Pages In the book Memoirs of a Geisha Sayuri, the main character, is faced with many hardships. The main issue in the story deals with how she overcomes all of the adverse situations that come her way. She begins as a girl from a poor fishing village on to being an abused maid to a renowned geisha where she ends her story finding true love. Not every person can face so many struggles and end up with what they had wanted all along. In Japanese culture, in that time, there were not many choices and optionsRead More Memoirs Of A Geisha Essay721 Words   |  3 Pagesentitled Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Golden examines the secret world of the geisha. Contrary of what is often believed, geisha are far from being prostitutes; they are more accurately High-class Japanese entertainers. Arthur Golden shows the reader a completely different look on life in looking into the lives of geisha in mid-twentieth century Gion and sends a very strong message distinguishing the geisha and the prostitutes. Arthur Golden, throughout Memoirs of a Geisha, creates a perfectRead MoreMemoir Of A Geisha Essay1066 Words   |  5 Pagesthat I watched is 《The Memoir of a Geisha》, and it was released in the United States on December 9, 2005. The director of this film is Rob Marshall, and 2 main characters in the movie are Sayuri (starring by Ziyi Zhang) and Hatsumomo (Gong Li). Although this film is produced by American directors, the origin of the story is in Japan. By the year when Chiyo is nine, her father reluctantly sold her and her sister to a geisha house because of poverty. In that geisha house, she is forced to do the cleaningRead MoreMemoirs of a Geisha Essay742 Words   |  3 Pagesentitled Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, Golden examines the secret world of the geisha. Contrary of what is often believed, geisha are far from being prostitutes; they are more accurately High-class Japanese entertainers. Arthur Golden shows the reader a completely different look on life in looking into the lives of geisha in mid-twentieth century Gion and sends a very strong message distinguishing the geisha and the prostitutes. Arthur Golden, throughout Memoirs of a Geisha, creates a perfectRead MoreMemoirs Of A Geisha Essay1753 Words   |  8 Pagesminds and habits by what they impart to us. For me, Memoirs of a Geisha was not such. While, superficially, it stands it s ground as a decent piece of literature, the rhetoric and other such devices well utilized. Once one takes a closer look, though, at the characters, plot, and more, mistakes, flaws, and inaccuracies become extremely apparent, degrading the integrity of the work as a whole. In a casual setting, Memoirs of a Geisha would be a satisfying read for most audiences, but, under deep scrutinyRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book Memoirs Of A Geisha 1219 Words   |  5 PagesMemoirs of a Geisha is a beautiful work of meta-fiction; where the author implements an autobiographical approach and fabricates a fictional translator who is supposedly a friend of the protagonist in the book; Nitta Sayuri a geisha or Geiko of Kyoto, Japan. Here Golden gives an unusual frame to the storytelling through the voice of the translator Jacob and how Jacob documents Sayuri’s oral narration about the fascinating life she has had as a Kyoto Geisha. This biographical approach gives the storyRead MoreMetaphors In Memoirs Of A Geisha1760 Words   |  8 Pages Introduction: The novel Memoirs of a Geisha is a historic fiction story in which the hardships and blunders of the Japanese during both world wars and after are seen through the eyes of the protagonist. In other words, this is the life story of the narrator. As evident by the title, the story is of the narrator’s transition and life as a geisha, which roughly means ‘traditional Japanese prostitute’. The lives of geisha are very difficult, facing discrimination from the changing world and oppressionRead MoreAnalysis Of The Movie Memoirs Of A Geisha 1547 Words   |  7 PagesBoth Rob Marshall and Warwick Thornton   have very distinctive and different directory movie styles. However, In memoirs of a Geisha (Directed by Rob Marshall) and Samson Delilah (Directed by Warwick Thornton) Both Warwick and Marshall are able to communicate their ideas of exploitation similarly through a variety of shots and film techniques. These techniques are used in great succession and are able to capture the audience to sympathize with these characters at their lowest points. A scene inRead More Memoirs of a Geisha Essay example536 Words   |  3 Pagesvillage, as she becomes a geisha. The real interest of this book is in the first half - her training and schooling. After that, the book devolves into a rather standard romance-novel-type plot concerning Sayuris love for the Chairman, an important figure in her life. Ivy, Resident Scholar The story of a Japanese girl with unusual grey eyes that is taken away from her poor fishing village at the age of nine to be taken into slavery and be trained to become a geisha. Nitta Sayuri faces the manyRead MoreMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden713 Words   |  3 Pagesvarious Japanese Geisha in the early 1900’s; specifically in the novel Memoirs of A Geisha, by Arthur Golden. Set in the early years before World War 1, it was within the lives of these Geisha that objectification was not only displayed, but was exemplified. Outrightly told to listen to men, apply cosmetics, and act with reservation within society, similarities between both old-world Geishas and modern day women are easily correlated. Beginning on their initiation day, Geisha were taught exactly