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The Doctor’s Wife (1967) by Ariyoshi Sawako - Final thoughts?
| Final thoughts on the novel? Prosperity vs. deaths of Koben and Okatsu. In chapter 9. Otsugi vs, Kae as volunteers for Seishus’ experiments with anesthesia – competition intensifies (inheritance, nightgowns and samurai knots, reaction of community, why Seishu eventually agrees to Kae’s request, the outcome). Kae’s blindness vs perceptiveness especially re: husband. Did she “win” as Koriku asserts? Koriku’s key role in last chapters Seishu’s growing success and new tenderness toward Kae. Does Kae represent an ideal version of the traditional role of Japanese women? Is the novel’s perspective therefore conservative? Or: Does Kae ultimately exhibit agency and vitality in the face of extreme social restraint? Can the novel be considered feminist? Is the novel simply a dramatization or ultimately a critique of patriarchy and the deadly competition it engenders between Kae and Otsugi? What did you think of the novel as a factual history of Hanaoka Seishu’s medical genius? Is this a novel you think should be better known? Would you recommend it? |