The Role of Women in Japanese Theatre - Essay Example

The role The role of women in Japanese Theatre and the portrayal of Japanese women in western theatre. Client’s of The role 2 The role of women in Japanese Theatre and the portrayal of Japanese women in western theatre Introduction The role of women in Japanese culture is historically considered to be suppressed and oppressed and this can be seen in both the artistic impression allowed to female performers in theater and the way in which Japanese women are still portrayed even in Western theater. In the Japanese theater traditions of kabuki and bunraki, women are portrayed by male performers and this remains so into contemporary times. The Japanese performance of gidayu, however, is considered to be appropriate forms of performance for females. The way in which the kabuki has developed is a commentary on the point of view on the female persona. This persona has been carried forward into the Western traditions of portrayals of Japanese females in popular theater which is typified in “Madame Butterfly“. Performance by Women The performance of female parts in most Japanese theater is done by male actors. This tradition in both the kabuki and the bunraki is still primarily maintained today. However, the performance of the gidayu is a tradition that has included female performers since the late 16th or early 17th century (Coaldrake, 1997, pp. 13). The performance of the gidayu is similar to the oral traditions of story telling in the Western traditions. However, it is done in a chanting voice that emotes action and the furtherance of the story through a combination of this chanting and of song. The skill of the performer is measured by how well she engages her audience and helps them visualize the play without an actual visual performance. The performance is accompanied by an instrument that is played by the artist. This tradition is part of the geisha traditions and artistries as well as those who are dedicated solely to this type of performance. Traditionally, The role 3 female performers do not represent their gender in most Japanese theater. The Edo period, running from 1603 to 1868 saw a great deal of restrictions in the activities of all people, but even more so for women. During the late Edo period there were attempts to try and suppress global influences that might subvert the Japanese heritage and traditions. One of these attempts was through the suppression of extravagances in art, which included the public performances by women (Coaldrake, 1997, pp. 12). These attempts, however, were largely unsuccessful as seen through the remaining existence of this type of performance in Japan. The onnagata are male performers who portray female parts in the kabuki. The origins of the all male kabuki as the only kabuki did not occur until the early 17th century when in 1629 females were prohibited from performing. Previous to this time all female kabuki existed, but because the actors, both male and female, were also used as prostitutes as they became quite coveted by audience members, edicts in 1629 made it illegal for females to participate. The actors used the venue of the theatre to sell their wares, providing erotic performances that inspired the audience members to purchase them for sexual favors (Senelick, 2000, pp. 76: Kano, 2001, pp. 5). Still, the male performers were used as prostitutes even after this happened and the portrayal of females by the younger males created a dynamic that encouraged this situation. Therefore, they were also banned and it fell to adult males to portray the female character in kabuki. Beyond the concept of prostitution outside of the artistic expression, the performance of a female by a female player is considered to be too realistic and somehow this realism defiles the overall performance. According to Ernst (1974), “If an actress were to appear on the stage she The role 4 could not portray ideal feminine beauty, for she would rely only on the exploitation of her physical characteristics and therefore not express the synthetic ideal” (pp. 195). The female is too close to her own identity to properly express the essence of herself, according to kabuki tradition. Ernst (1974) goes on to say that “according to the Japanese, although the surface of the woman portrayed should be soft, tender, and beautiful, beneath this surface there should be a strong line which can be created only by a man” (pp. 195). The expression of the kabuki character is not about realism, but about stylistic expression and under the way in which the theater has developed, it is not seen as appropriate to the art to see women portraying female characters. Japanese Women Portrayed in Theater In 1911, a university production of Ibsen’s “The Doll House” was performed in Tokyo. Although most in the audience did not view the sacrifice of women for the sake of their husband’s honor, a major theme of the play, as a source of compassion, the playwright Ihara Seiseien noted that a the women he had accompanied, one the sister of a playwright and another a playwright herself, were moved by the message. He commented that these women were “truly new women” (Bernstein, 1991, pp. 175). This diversity in reaction is due to the old traditional point of views toward women in contrast to the new Western influences that began to develop in the 20th century. In understanding the way in which Japanese women are blossoming in depth and character from within the construct of theater, one must understand the way in which they have begun to stand up and be counted within society. The theory of gender and the way in which it is defined in society is directly linked to the way in which the role of the female has developed in Japanese theatre. As exampled by the point of view in kabuki, the female is not seen as living The role 5 breathing flesh, but as a symbol of the feminine that is dependent upon the male core for exploration. Of course, this runs directly in contrast to the modern point of view on the issue of gender, but when taken into consideration as a source of character and theatrical development, it is crucial to an overall understanding of Japanese theater and the female character. According to Kano (2001), in society gender is a matter of developing a persona of that gender in relationship to cultural norms. The female is female because of the definition of that gender, rather than simply because of biology. Gender difference is “a cultural and social construct that may be understood as “performance” (pp. 3). In this vein, the stylized version of the female which has been a source of objectification throughout global theater, was a deeper construct within the kabuki. Thus, the road to a reality based female character within the Japanese theater and the Western view of the Japanese female character has had a long way to travel in order to create an accurate portrayal. “Madame Butterfly“, and the Japanese Female Performed in Western Theater “Madame Butterfly” is an opera that was written by Giacomo Puccini and performed for the first time in 1904 at La Scala in Milan. The first performance was a complete failure creating heckling and disdain from the audience that historically is reported to have left the diva lead in tears (Brener, 2003, pp. 181). However, as time has passed it has become a classic tale with an appreciative audience that finds compassion and empathy for the heroine who meets a tragic end due to her own sense of honor. However the stereotypical Western view of Madame Butterfly is exemplified by the idea that her character is innocent of her proper place in the world and is duped by a cruel and more worldly American male. She believes herself to be a married woman waiting for her husband, when in reality to him their marriage was one of a temporary nature that The role 6 was only valid while he was in Japan. According to Long, Honey, Cole, and Watanna (2002), the character of Madame Butterfly is a contradiction of stereotypes that both exposes “the cruelty of the Western point of view” and also portrays an innocence or lack of worldly understanding that is pervasive in the portrayal of Japanese women (3). If one looks at the character of Madame Butterfly, one can find a stereotypical example of how the Western point of view is a mirror of the Japanese portrayal of the female. The character is developed in such a way that she has a tradition of honor that is commonly understood as a powerful part of the Japanese tradition from a Western point of view. This type of honor must be held above all other aspects of life, thus creating a storyline that will end tragically because of that belief system. Madame Butterfly takes her own life because her honor has been taken for her, leaving her son to be cared for by the man who took her dignity. This sort of sacrifice by a female is set in the traditional belief of the female from the old concept of the feminine, but is in contrast to the empathy that was created in the Ibsen story of “The Doll House” which had Western female aesthetics within the characters. As the twentieth century progressed, the portrayal of Asian women has become more realistic with the veil between the male perspective of female emotions pierced so that the truth of their strengths and their weaknesses are then revealed. In the musical production of “Miss Saigon” which is based on the opera “Madame Butterfly“, the male character becomes a bit more sympathetic and the female lead, while still innocent, is portrayed with a multi-faceted development of her nature. In the 2005 production of “Memoirs of a Geisha”, the development of the character becomes more distinct with an individuality given over to the lead character that was not quite as apparent in “Madame Butterfly“. The role 6 Conclusion In understanding the female from the point of view of Japanese theater and the representation that has been carried forward into Western theater, it is important to note how these characters were developed in kabuki. From a cultural perspective, the female is seen as inferior to her own gender and requiring a male to support the full depth of the character. This pervading and underlying concept is contradictory to the nature of reality and is in a sense the male idealization of the female as not human, but surreal. The Japanese female character has traditionally had this aura of the exotic to the Western male point of view, as seen in the way that she is portrayed in “Madame Butterfly“. However, as theater progresses and portrayals of the characters are modernized, the essence of the Japanese woman is becoming human, leaving the ethereal exotic creature that was more myth than real behind. The role 8 References Bernstein, G. L. (1991). Recreating Japanese women, 1600-1945. Berkeley: University of California Press. Brener, M. E. (2003). Opera offstage: Passion and politics behind the great operas. London., [England]: Robson Books. Coaldrake, A. J. (1997). Women’s gidayu and the Japanese theatre tradition. East Sussex: Routledge. Ernst, E. (1974). The Kabuki theatre. Honolulu: The University Press of Hawaii. Kano, A. (2001). Acting like a woman in modern Japan: Theater, gender, and nationalism. New York [u.a.]: Palgrave. Long, J. L., Honey, M., Cole, J. L., & Watanna, O. (2002). Madame Butterfly. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Senelick, L. (2000). The changing room: Sex, drag, and theatre. East Sussex: Routledge. Read More