EA 170 Paper #2 Topic (due in class Thursday November 14th )

Write a 3-5 page (double-spaced) paper on the topic given below.

Provide a cover sheet with Name, Date, EA 170 Paper 2.

Make sure that you give me plenty of concrete examples and quotations from the readings to support your points, and that you cite your sources with titles and page numbers or lecture dates. Please use the citation form I've provided on the main page for paper topics (under "READ THIS!") If you're not sure what "citing your sources" means, click here.

1. Compare the representation of women in Noh and Kyôgen: How do they seem different? How are they similar? How do the women characters fit (or fail to fit) the dominant stereotypes of their time (the Muromachi period) about properly feminine behavior? Are they idealized? Demonized? Made fun of? How do they handle emotions? etc. etc.

In answering this question, try to think about both the plot content of the plays and the way they are presented in performance (i.e. costumes, wigs, masks, makeup etc), using specific examples from the plays. For costuming it will probably be helpful to look at images.

What factors might explain the differences in representation? Factors you should consider include:

a. the goals (didactic? entertainment? both? serious or humorous?) of each kind of theater

b. the authorship (who is writing these plays?) and audience/patronage (who is watching these plays? who is paying for them to be written?)

c. the social class of the women being represented

Use specific examples and quotations from the plays we've read to support your points. For Noh, use Aoi no Ue and Nonomiya (you can also use images etc. from Yashima and Izutsu); for Kyogen use at least two of the following plays we studied in class (Kintouzaemon, The Stone God, The Fortified Beard, Chigiriki, The Drunken Wife) and at least one that we haven't studied in class: Hoshigahaha (The Baby's Mother), Kamabara (Sickly Stomach), Kanaoka, Hikkukuri (Caught in a Sack) , Hanago

Useful readings to frame the argument: Hitomi Tonomura's "Women and Inheritance in Japan's Early Warrior Society," Karen Brazell's "Japanese Theater: A Living Tradition" (3-10, 24-39); "The Noh and Kyogen Theater: Elements of Performance" (115-125), and "No Drama" included in the Aoi no Ue reading (pp. 917-924).