i
THE CHARACTER’S SACRIFICE, STRUGGLE,
COMPETITION AND EROTICISM IN FINDING THE TRUE
IDENTITY OF GEISHA DEPICTED IN ARTHUR GOLDEN’S
MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA
AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS
Presented as a Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra
in English Letters
By
Irin Widyarini Warasthi
Student Number: 014214140
ENGLISH LETTERS STUDY PROGRAMME DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS
FACULTY OF LETTERS SANATA DHARMA UNIVERSITY
iv
If you think you have given enough,
Think again.
There is always more to give,
and someone to give it to.
v
I dedicat e t his t hesis t o:
My beloved Fat her and Mot her
My B ig- B rot her and my Lil - Sist er
vi
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I want to thank God the Almighty because without His blessing I cannot finish my writing. For all English Letters lecturers in Sanata Dharma University, thank you so much for giving me a lot of know ledge and experiences. Thanks for the best lovely family in the world, my farther Dalmanto Bsc., my mother Sri Widyastuti, my big-brother Atut Satria Darmanto, my lil-sister Indah Ari Widyasari (Iin) , my funny nephew Ariel Sukma Mahendra Darmanto, and my cousin Yan Nugraha Pratama. You are my never ending love. Without your love and supports I cannot finish my study. Bibi Asmonah who becomes my nanny since I was a baby, thank you for your caretaking. And also for my cat Sella-rong thank you for your cheerfulness.
vii
B. Review on Related Theories ... 12
C. Theoretical Framework ... 18
CHAPTER III Methodology ... 20
A. Object of the Study... 20
B. Approach of the Study... 21
C. Method of the Study ... 22
CHAPTER IV Analysis ... 24
A. Sayuri’s Sacrifice and Struggle ...24
a) Sayuri’s Sacrifices ... 25
b) Sayuri’s Struggles ... 30
B. Competition Among Geisha ... 34
C. Sexuality Depicted in the Novel...40
a) Mentioning the Sex Organs ... 40
b) Describing Flirtation Scenes ... 42
c) Sexual Intercourse Scenes ... 44
viii CHAPTER V
Conclusion ... 51 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...55 APPENDIX
ix
ABSTRACT
Irin Widyarini Warasthi (2006). The Character’s Sacrifice, Struggle, Competition and Eroticism in Finding the True Identity of Geisha Depicted in Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of A Geisha. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Sanata Dharma University.
The Western people have sometimes wrong perception about geisha, for they sometimes think that geisha are like prostitutes and courtesans. After the World War II, the U.S. soldiers came back to their country after occupying Japan, and brought with them the wrong perception about the role of geisha to the world. It is because during the occupation, the soldiers were entertained by prostitutes who introduced themselves as geisha. In fact geisha are artists, they are taught to sing, dance, play the instruments and hold tea ceremony since they were little children. They entertain their customers in parties and banquets that are usually held in tea houses. They also perform their skills of art on stage when the annual events are held.
Arthur Golden, in Sayuri’s voice, speaks the real life and role of geisha through his novel Memoirs of A Geisha. Sayuri as the main character represents the life of geisha in 19t h century. She was sold by her father to the geisha house because of the poverty since she was nine. She then becomes one of the greatest geisha with amazing journeys during her effort to be geisha.
The problems to discuss in this thesis are:
1) Sayuri’s efforts and struggles to get a better life thought her profession as a geisha, shows the positive side being a geisha.
2) The competitions that happen among geisha give more values on this profession.
3) The sexuality issues in this geisha profession which always become people wrong conception about the role of geisha in entertaining men, is explaine d in this thesis in the positive way.
These problems are discussed to put back the original perspective about the profession of geisha, the real role of geisha in the Japanese society, which are revealed in the novel.
Applying the sociocultural-historical approach, this thesis is made by collecting data from the internet and several books to support the facts of the Japanese geisha’s life. The writer uses the character Sayuri in this thesis to help the writer in explaining and picturing the life of geisha to answer the problems.
x
ABSTRAK
Irin Widyarini Warasthi (2006). The Character’s Sacrifice, Struggle, Competition and Eroticism in Finding the True Identity of Geisha Depicted in Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of A Geisha. Yogyakarta: Jurusan Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.
Orang-orang dari Barat kadang memiliki persepsi yang salah tentang geisha, mereka menganggap geisha sebagai pelacur. Setelah Perang Dunia ke-II tentara-tentara Amerika pula ng ke negara mereka setelah menjajah Jepang dengan membawa anggapan yang keliru tentang geisha kepada dunia. Hal ini terjadi karena selama penjajahan mereka dihibur oleh para pelacur yang mengaku sebagai geisha. Dalam kenyataannya geisha adalah artis, mere ka diajar menyanyi, menari, memainkan alat-alat musik, dan mengadakan upacara minum teh sejak mereka masih kecil. Mereka menghibur para langganan di pesta-pesta dan pertemuan-pertemuan yang biasa diadakan di rumah-rumah minum teh. Mereka juga mementaskan ketrampilan mereka dalam berseni di atas panggung saat diselenggarakan acara-acara tahunan.
Arthur Golden, melalui Sayuri, mengungkapkan tentang kehidupan dan peranan sebenarnya dari geisha melalui novelnya Memoirs of A Geisha. Sayuri sebagai tokoh utama me representasikan kehidupan geisha di abad ke-19. Dia dijual ayahnya pada rumah geisha akibat kemiskinan sejak dia masih sembilan tahun. Dia kemudian menjadi salah satu geisha terhebat dengan perjalanan yang menakjubkan dalam usahanya menjadi geisha.
Permasa lahan-permasalahan yang dibahas dalam tesis ini adalah:
1) Usaha dan perjuangan Sayuri untuk mendapatkan penghidupan yang lebih baik melalui profesinya sebagai geisha menunjukkan sisi positif dalam menjadi seorang geisha.
2) Persaingan yang terjadi antar geisha memberikan nilai lebih dalam profesi ini.
3) Masalah sexualitas dalam profesi geisha yang selalu membuat orang menyalahartikan peranan geisha dalam menghibur para pria, dijelaskan dengan cara yang positif dalam tesis ini.
Permasalahan-permasalahan ini dibahas untuk mengembalikan persepsi awal tentang profesi geisha, peranan sebenarnya dari geisha dalam masyarakat Jepang, yang terungkap dalam novel.
Dengan menerapkan pendekatan sosiokultural dan sejarah, tesis ini dibuat dengan cara mengumpulkan data dari internet dan sejumlah buku untuk mendukung fakta-fakta tentang kehidupan geisha Jepang.
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
A. Background of the Study
Every country or nation in the world has its own culture and social rules. When we talk about a particular place with its tradition and culture at a particular time, we will perhaps talk about it again in a different point of view several years forward. It happens because tradition and culture are born out of the situation of the place and the people themselves. What people did long time ago when they had to face something is not always exactly repeated by the next generation of the same society. Human’s thinking will always develop together with the changing of time. An example of the development in human’s thinking together with the changing time is the perception about the profession of the Japanese geisha. In this thesis the changing happens to the people’s perception about geisha♣. The common understanding about geisha now is that geisha is a similar profession as that of a prostitute.
The perception about geisha before the World War II, however, is very traditional as the Japanese saw geisha as an artist. In the pre-World War II era, geisha became the biggest commodity seen from the social and cultural aspects in Japan. Geisha was also a role model in art and tradition in Japan.
♣
The then geisha studied and learned Japanese traditional culture in geisha schools such as singing, dancing, playing instruments, and doing tea ceremony. They learned everything they needed to improve their good manner and attitude. Moreover, they applied everything they got from geisha schools in their daily life and, of course, on the stage when they had to perform their skills in annual events as well. Whatever people thought about it, geisha was a respectable profession. In many aspects of life, geisha were mannered more than the ordinary women. They were also more educated than ordinary wives, as geisha were taught mannerism and art, whereas not all married women were educated that way.
To speak further about the old perception of geisha, it is not easy to be a geisha, usually a girl becomes a geisha because her mother is or was a geisha also. It is like continuing the family tradition. But in certain cases okiya – a lodging house for geisha during their period of service—also buys a little girl from ordinary family whom they think appropriate to be a maiko, —maiko is the name for the apprentice geisha. Lots of efforts are needed to be geisha; they have to go to school every early morning, and even up until they become popular geisha. Lots of sacrifices and struggles are needed as well. Maintaining the existence is very important, therefore, they should be careful in keeping their name. There are a lot of competitions also, be they fair or not, and all these make geisha much more aware of their situation and behavior than the ordinary women.
Geisha, many people assume that geisha is just a Japanese word for prostitute and courtesa n or something similar to it. But in fact, such does not fit with the history, should we consider about their history. The word geisha has a literal meaning, i.e. ‘person of the arts’. The early geisha, according to the site, were men. They performed dance, music and poetry. It is actually what they did when they spent most of their working time. (http://www.japan-zone.com/culture/geisha.shtml)
After the World War II, this traditional understanding of geisha has changed. Geisha are equated with prostitutes. During the World War II, the geisha stopped their activities and left the hanamachi to get a job and survive from the war after the government ordered its closure. Hanamachi is the licensed area of Japanese city in which the geisha and maiko lived and entertained. The empty hanamachi was used by the prostitute and poor geisha – who desperately could not find a job—to sexually entertain the U.S. soldiers. When the war was over, the U.S. soldiers came back to their country and brought the wrong perception to the world about the role of geisha in Japan. It is stated in Geisha and Their Role in Japanese Society, that people in the United States and other Western countries are often confused about the definition of the word “geisha”. They assume that geisha are prostitutes and courtesans. It is because the U.S. soldiers came back from the occupied Japan after World War II with the incorrect perception about ‘geisha girls’ who they know as prostitutes and courtesans. (http://www.geocities.com/fluff_freak/geisha.html)
thesis will look also at how hard to be a geisha is. Through the character of Sayuri we will see how she sacrifices and struggles to get a better life as a human being with the profession as a geisha. Obstacles and temptations are in the way of making her get what she wants to get.
People assume that geisha are similar to prostitutes and courtesans because sex is involved in this profession. From this incorrect assumption, the writer will analyze also the different point of view about sexuality depicted in Arthur Golden’s Memoirs of A Geisha. People always think that the sexuality which is involved in this profession leads to pornography. But in fact it deals with no pornography at all. It is about eroticism, and geisha learn about it for the sake of art. This whole analysis will straighten the wrong perception about geisha by analyzing Sayuri’s life and role in the novel to find the positive values of geisha’s life, and also by describing the way sexuality is revealed in the novel to find the positive point of view about geisha’s life as well.
dancing, singing, playing instrument, and holding tea ceremony. Mameha also helps her to survive in the wild competition in the geisha world. This Sayuri’s story of life becomes the instrument the writer uses to picture the condition of geisha’s life in that 19t h century.
B. Problem Formulation
Three problems will be elaborated in this thesis. They are formulated as follows:
1. How are Sayuri’s sacrifices and struggles as human being to get a better life depicted in Memoirs of A Geisha?
2. How is the competition among the geisha’s characters in Memoir of A Geisha depicted?
3. How is the theme of eroticism as the basic issue in the profession of geisha depicted in Memoirs of A Geisha?
C. Objective of the Study
D. Definition of Terms
There are some definitions of terms used in this thesis. They are explained as follows:
1. Sexuality
Sexuality consists of a large social context’s circumstances. The whole human itself is sexual. Through the anatomy and physiology people are able to differentiate between male and female. People base their behaviors always on the sexual identity, which is the gradation between manly male and womanly female (Gunawan, 1993:1).
2. Eroticism
Originally eroticism is sex, and sex is natural for alive-things to the reproduction. Sex here means action, so eroticism means sex in action. Eroticism comes from sex. Sex is the oldest and basic nature than love and eroticism. Primordial people already knew about sex like they knew about eating. They knew sex in order to regenerate. People had known sex before they invented eroticism. Eroticism becomes culture function in society. It means that since human invents eroticism, human practices eroticism and it becomes their part of lives, becomes their culture. (Paz, 1993:7-10)
3. Geisha
geisha in Kyoto are far more stringent than in other Japanese cities. (Aihara, 2000: 124)
4. Sacrifice
Sacrifice is the giving up of some thing of great value to oneself for a special purpose, or to benefit someone else (Hornby, 1974). To give up a thing for the sake of something you think more important (Roderts, 1970). 5. Struggle
Struggle is a part when someone does some effort by overcomes every problems wisely to get everything he or she wants to get without looking back to what ever he or she already left behind. According to Roderts struggle is to try very hard under difficulty to make a great effort (Roderts, 1970).
6. Competition
CHAPTER II
THEORETICAL REVIEW
A. Review on Related Studies
There have been many works discussing Japanese ideas about the life of geisha and the Japanese culture, especially on the object of this thesis, the work of Arthur Golden, Memoirs of A Geisha. Theories and other works discussing the novel studied are very helpful for the writer to do this present study.
Memoirs of A Geisha is Arthur Golden’s first novel, but it becomes a very popular book. Spotlight Reviews in (http://www.cnn.com) stated that this novel is on the New York T imes Bestseller List for more than a year. More than five hundred thousand copies are sold. In the Editorial Reviews (http://www.amazon.com), it is stated that the novel has been translated into 21 languages. Steven Spielberg is the producer of the film and it was already sold in over a dozen countries. Also mentioned in User Comment (www.imdb.com) is that this film is stared by Asia's most celebrated movie stars who are Zhang Ziyi (House of Flying Daggers; Hero) as Sayuri, Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai) as The Chairman, Gong Li (Raise The Red Lantern) as Hatsumomo, and Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) as Mahema, and Yoji Yakusho as Nobu. They are all perfect in their roles. (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0397535/).
common issue like prostitution which always gives big interest to readers. Golden is fortunate because he can get such material which is easily accepted by the reader because most people are concerned about this issue. This geisha world is doubling the reader’s interest because most people do not know exa ctly what geisha is. Next, she stated that Memoirs of A Geisha is amazing as it is the first novel that provides a vivid view into a largely lost and secret world. However, Golden as an American white male writer, successfully makes a brilliant book because he does it in Asia woman’s voice. It is a remarkable achievement for any writer, according to McAlpin, especially for a white male from a markedly different culture. Golden’s talent and intelligence in formulating the Japanese historical, cultural, and social life of geisha gives a very great value in writing this novel. (http://www.amazon.com)
work, Golden interviewed directly the traditional Japanese geisha named Mineko Iwasaki, who spent years charming the very rich and famous as geisha in her 19th century era, and makes it as a memoir book. Like stated in Questioner for Arthur Golden by Golden.
I read everything I could find on the subject, in English and in Japanese, and ended up writing an 800 page first draft focusing on five years in the life of a Kyoto geisha shortly after World War II. Then as I prepared to revise the manuscript, a longtime Japanese friend of my grandmother's offered to introduce me to a Kyoto geisha named Mineko--retired already at the age of 42 and evidently willing to talk to me. (http://www.readinggroupguides. com/guides/memoirs_of_a_geisha. asp#aboutthisbook).
Kate Tuttle in her article Arthur Golden; Memoir of a Geisha
(www.weeklywire.com) says that Memoirs of A Geisha explores the weirdness of the world of geisha that should be hidden from common people. This is such a tradition for geisha as a young woman uses her charming appearance and teasing ability to attract older men. This girl uses her ritual performance in acting subservience to ease away the customer’s tensions. Tuttle also says that romance, adventure, and atmosphere that Golden shows on this novel are not psychological exploration. According to Tuttle , if the book’s foreground is the plot, the background of the work is where emotional and philosophical energies meet. Golden cleverly challenges the reader’s aesthetic assumptions by giving the detail descriptions of the costumes, ornaments, and daily lives of the geisha (http://weeklywire.com/ww/10-13-97/boston_books_2.html).
Since moving to New York I’ve learned what the word “geisha” really means to most Westerners. From time to time at elegant parties, I’ve been introduced to some young woman or other in a splendid dress and jewelry. When she learns I was once a geisha in Kyoto, she forms her mouth into a sort of smile, although the corners don’t turn up quite as they should. She has no idea what to say! And then the burden of conversation falls to the man or woman who has introduce us —because I’ve never really learned much English, even after all these years. Of course, by this time there’s little point even in trying, because this woman is thinking, “My goodness…I’m talking with a prostitute…” (Golden, 1997:291)
Golden, through his novel Memoirs of A Geisha, does not think the same about the similarity of geisha and prostitute because the eroticism that geisha show is part of the art. Golden through this novel tries to put the ideas of traditional geisha on the first place. It means that he wants to tell the world that geisha are not prostitutes. It can be seen that Golden tries to open the world’s eyes about the traditional artistic role of geisha. Golden states it in Questioner for Arthur Golden. Is this prostitution? Not in the exact sense we mean it in the West, where prostitutes turn "tricks" with "johns," and so on. To my mind, a first-class geisha is more analogous to a kept mistress in our culture than to a prostitute... You have to look at how well they play the shamisen, and how much they know about tea ceremony, before you determine whether they ought properly to call themselves geisha (http://www.readinggroupguides. com/guides/memoirs_of_a_geisha. asp#aboutthisbook).
art’s sake, not pornography and the discussion of it is presented to support the positive views on the geisha.
B. Review on Related Theories
1. On Character
Characters are what and how the person do or think about anything. A person would consider as a kind person if he or she acts and thinks of the human’s good values. This character is usually called protagonist. Meanwhile, a person would be considered a bad person if he or she acts and thinks of the bad things. This character is usually called antagonist. From the characters, the readers understand about what the writers want to say in their works.
According to Abrams, characters are the person presented in dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with moral, disposition, and emotional qualities that are expressed in what they say, do, and also their temperament, desires, and moral nature for their speech and actions. (Abrams, 1971:23)
2. On Characterization
personalities. For the purpose, the writer usually employs some techniques of characterization.
The presentation of a character is thus known as characterization. Gill says that characterization is the way in which a character is created. He adds that we shall be looking at how the identities of a character are present in the individual elements that make them what they are. (Gill,1995: 135)
3. On Culture
Kitano says that culture means different things in different contexts. Some people think of art, plays and books. The archaeologist finds evidence of it in the artifacts, pottery and statues, left behind by extinct peoples. Culture may mean the behavior and personality of certain current groups. All the aspects of behavior, products, achievements and personality are of importance in defining a culture in its widest sense, that is, to relate to the social heritage of human (Kitano, 1976:120).
4. On Eroticism
will fall in love. ( http://English3.fsu.edu/~kpicart/humfilm/student/lectures /Lec06-Robin-html).
From the word Eros comes the term erotic, which widely means all kinds or types of expressions of life between male and female, between the same sexes (homoerotic), or love to the individual it self (autoerotic). In its narrow meaning, erotic does not refer to the physical sexuality but mentality as well, and it develops the stimulant emerged by the sexuality. (Utomo, 2001: 3)
Eroticism in a text is pictured through language that consists of attitudes or actions, and conditions or atmospheres which are connected to the sexual desire. The descriptions of the se xual actions are not seen visually but verbally. If a reader feels the sexual desire after reading the text or literature it is only because of in his or her mind appears interpretation and association of thought as a result of his or her erotic fantasy (Sitanggang, 2002:9).
That is why the display of skin became sexually charged. (http://www.east-asian-history.net/textbooks/MJ/ch5.htm)
According to Zaidan, Abdul Rozak and friends there are several techniques used by an author in presenting eroticism, they are:
• Mentioning the sex organs.
• Describing / depicting sex organs.
• Describing flirtation scenes.
• Describing sexual deviation.
• Describing sexual intercourse scenes.
• Describing parts of body which are sensual (Zaidan, 1998: 14)
These six techniques of presenting eroticism in literature will be applied in the analysis. Given that not all of them are present in Memoirs of a Geisha, the writer will only borrow four of them in doing the analysis, i.e. mentioning the sex organs, describing flirtation scenes, describing sexual intercourse scenes, and describing parts of body which are sensual.
5. On The Difference Between Pornography and Eroticism
pornography in capturing the beauty, shape and form of the human body and its deeper portrayal of our emotions, lust and desire. Good erotic art portrays good healthy sexuality and sex; which is joyful, exciting, intimate, interesting and pleasurable. (http://www.spaceandmotion.com /Sex-Erotica-Free-Gallery-Erotic -Art-Pictures.htm)
6. On Geisha
Amanda Ferguson in her article Arthur Golden: Memoirs of a Geisha stated that geisha is a girl who is trained to entertain men in public and private events, her white face and red lips have become the image of “Japan” visible in travel books and posters, and “Geisha” is synonymous with “prostitute” for many ways (http://www.citypages.com/databank /8/882/article2041.asp).
Further, the historical term of geisha is stated in History of the Geisha that geisha’s profession is based on preserving the traditional arts such as dance, singing, music and entertaining in a non-sexual manner. The confusion about whether geisha are prostitutes or not, is because the nearness relationship that geisha have with courtesans from Edo era (1600-1868) . In fact, the courtesans in Edo era technically were indeed from the red light districts of Japan. The red light here knows as prostitutes’ quarter. The thought of this nearness relationship appears in post -Wor ld War II occupied by U.S. service men or soldiers.
consider as geisha are most of them not the real geisha. They are just ordinary women or prostitutes who masquerading and calling them selves “geisha”. It is because easiest for the service men to understand. The large majority of service men did not know the difference. They also did not know that there are some geisha districts survive, even after the enforcement of the prostitution laws in 1957, and when was the time of closing the red light districts. The misconception still influences people assumption about geisha until now. (http://www.immortalgeisha.com /ig/faq_geisha.cfm#).
7. On The Role of Geisha in Japanese Tradition
It is stated in What is the Role of Geisha? that geisha have to train and learn some traditional arts of Japan such as classical dancing, playing instruments for example shamisen, and several style of singing in the hanamachi. Geisha’s hair style is usually set in a bun or a uniform style with a single comb or two pins. They paint their face, neck and also the back of the neck in beautiful white, and they wear expensive elegant kimonos.
emotionally, economically, and sexually involve with the danna. However, it is up to the geisha whether she is ready to has a danna or not, but who the proper man to be her danna is decided by to owner of the tea house and the mother of the okiya.
Geisha attend and entertain the guests in personal parties or business banquets for a considerable amount of money. They engage themselves in a conversation with the customers so that they must be cle ver and always update their knowledges from newspapers or magazines. Geisha either perform Tachikata the traditional Japanese dance, or Jikata which is singing or playing an instrument. Tachikata are usually done by maiko girls (the apprentice geisha) while Jikata are usually done by geisha women. Geisha pay a very big attention to the guests of honor. When they have the conversation with the customers in the parties, they keep it inside. They do not discuss anything that was said at a party or business mee ting outside. Geisha are not servant or maid, that is why they do not prepare or serve food. And the important thing is that geisha never have a one-night stand, except with their danna.
(http://marian.creighton.edu/~marian-w/academics/english/japan/geisha/ geisha.html)
C. Theoretical Framework
answer the problems in this study. The use of the theory of character is to describe and to explain the characterization of the character in the novel. To show the geisha’s life portrayed or described in the novel, it is very useful also because it supports the analysis on Sayuri’s character.
Sacrifice, Struggle, and competition in the world of geisha shows how the Japanese culture is very involve in the life of geisha, because the geisha will only do and think anything which is represent the Japanese culture. In this thesis the values of sacrifice, struggle, and competition also pictured Sayuri’s character. The theory of character and characterization are needed to discuss the values of sacrifice, struggle, and competition through Sayuri’s way of life.
CHAPTER III
METHODOLOGY
A. Object of the Study
The object of this study is Arthur Golden’s novel Memoirs of A Geisha. This book is published by Vintage Book A Division of Random House, Inc. New York. This novel was first published in 1957, but the writer uses the Vintage Contemporary edition, which is published in 1997. This novel was honored as the first International Best Seller. Many people are impressed by the story saying that the novel is completely unforgettable (Golden, 1997).
Talking about the author, Arthur Golden was born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, and was educated at Harvard College, where he received a degree in art history, specializing in Japanese art. In 1980 he earned an M.A. in Japanese history from Columbia University. He also learned Mandarin in Beijing University, China. He wor ked in Tokyo for a while, and, after returning to the United States, earned an M.A. in English from Boston University. He resides in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children. Golden’s capability in understanding the Japanese culture, social and language give the good excuse not to underestimate his work. Moreover he did the personal interview to the real ex-geisha named Mineko Iwasaki. All information above is taken from Book Discussion and Questions; Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: About The
The novel tells about a girl named Sayuri. Her father because of the family’s poverty sells Sayuri and her sister, Satsu. Sayuri is then torn away from her sister. Satsu is sent away to a whorehouse, while Sayuri to a geisha house. When Sayuri first arrived at the geisha house, she already makes a nemesis, a very beautiful geisha named Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo is jealous of Sayuri’s natural beauty, and she tries to sabotage Sayuri’s career by lying, accusing her of stealing, and making up a story that she has bad reputation. Everything is changed then when Mameha, the number one geisha in that Gion, takes Sayuri as her younger sister. Gion is the name of hanamachi or the geisha district. Hanamachi are known as the licensed areas of Japanese cities in which the geisha and maiko (the apprentice geisha) lived and entertained. In Kyoto, there are five hamanachi; they are Ponto -cho, Gion-Kobu, Gion-Higashi, Miyagawa-cho and Kamishichiken— Sayuri becomes a famous and expensive geisha since then. At the end of the story, after the World War II, she lives happily with the Chairman in New York.
B. Approach of the Study
The reason of using this approach is that the study focuses on attitudes and actions of the character of the story concerning their culture. Meanwhile, the definition about geisha and the theory of eroticism are important to support the characterization of the character in represent the Japanese society and culture as well through the story of the novel.
C. Method of the Study
In collecting the data to support the writing of this thesis, the writer used the subject, namely books needed as materials in library study. Therefore, the writer employed many book, on the subject of the Japanese social culture and also the theories of culture, character, eroticism, and sexuality. Those theories were used as the basis in writing the thesis.
In this thesis, the writer used Memoirs of A Geisha as the primary source. This book was written by Arthur Golden. To support the data from the book, the writer also used others data, such as articles from the Internet.
There were some steps in analyzing the problems this thesis. They are explained as follows:
1. Reading the novel
This step was needed because the novel was the basic of the analysis. The writer also needed to re-read the novel because it made the writer understand more about the story so that it would be easier to analyze. In this case, the writer read and tried to understand the novel
2. Finding the sources
This step was used to find the materials that supported the analysis of the novel. This step was needed to find some sources that have a relation with the novel and also wit h the topic. For example, in this thesis the writer collected the theories of character, eroticism and sexuality. 3. Making the analysis
This step was needed to relate the novel that was already analyzed with the theories that were collected before. For example, the analysis of Sayuri’s character in this novel was related to the theory of character that was already found before. After finding Sayuri’s character, the next step was to find out Sayuri’s role as a geisha in facing the wild competition world of geisha to get a better life, and also how eroticism and sexual activity in Japanese geisha social life is depicted in the novel.
4. Drawing conclusion
CHAPTER IV
ANALYSIS
The writer would divide this chapter into three parts: the first part is Sayuri’s sacrifices and struggles as a human being to get a better life. The second part is the competition among the geisha’s characters depicted in the story. And the third part is the theme of sexuality as the basic issue in the profession of geisha in the novel.
A. Sayuri’s Sacrifice and Struggle
give everything to win the Chairman, including becoming a geisha. So, to be the Chairman’s mistress is the mission, and to be the geisha is the instrument to complete the mission.
a) Sayuri’s Sacrifices
Sacrifice is a part when someone should let go what ever he or she has in life to achieve what he or she wants more. The sacrifices in Sayuri’s life are more to the mental sacrifices than to the physical ones. All sacrifices are about what Sayuri feels, hopes and dreams. Her dream to be reunited with her parents and sister is one of those. Her physical sacrifices such as hard work are nothing if it is compared to the mental ones.
customers. Sayuri cannot ruin tha t fantasy by telling the truth about her real background. Besides, it is useless for her to tell her unhappy childhood to the customers.
Sayuri is sold by her father when she was nine years old to an okiya in Gion, Kyoto. It is very shocking and frightening for a little girl who never leaves her fishing village before. She is separated from her sister Satsu right after their arrival in Kyoto. Satsu is sent to the prostitute house, but then she runs away without Sayuri. When Sayuri is still a maid in the okiya she gets news that her parents died. This is her hardest sacrifice in her life as she is loosing all her family while she becomes a maid in a strange place.
Japanese language is usually called okasan, runs the okiya and always calculates every okiya’s income and expense of money. And Mother, without trying to find the truth, will punish Sayuri even when she knows that Sayuri does not make a mistake at all. Mother just wants to appease Hatsumomo, so that she will not bother her again. That makes Sayuri lives like a slave in the okiya.
instead of Pumpkin. Pumpkin is Sayuri’s only friend who still calls her Chiyo, which means a lot for Sayuri, but she has to sacrifice it for her career.
For a girl who falls in love with a man, it is her dream to give her virginity to the man she loves. But it is impossible in the world of geisha. Sayuri falls in love with Chairman, but she has to sell her vir ginity or mizuage
to the highest bidder to pay her debt to the okiya. In her case, she sells her
mizuage to Dr. Crab. With the price of her mizuage, it will be more than enough to repay all her debt to the okiya.
In the end, Dr. Crab agreed to pay ¥ 11,500 for my
mizuage. Up to that time, this was the highest ever paid for
mizuage in Gion, and possibly in any of the geisha district in Japan. Keep in mind that in those days, one hour of a geisha’s time cost about ¥4, and an extravagant kimono might have sold for ¥1500. So it may not sound like a lot, but it’s much more than, say, a laborer might have earned in a year. (279)
She sacrifices her virginity because she has to, although she never gives up her hope to be Chairman’s. She keeps her feeling to the Chairman deep in her heart and never stops hoping.
that as long as Nobu has an obsession to make her as his mis tress, the Chairman will never try to get closer to her. Sayuri feels depressed of it but she cannot deny that Nobu indeed helps her so much. In this case, Sayuri sacrifice her own feeling, her own hope, her own love, and her own dream.
Sayuri and Nobu bec ome good friends, they respect each other. They have a very good friendship. Sayuri is fond of him for his kindness. Nobu is a very uneasy man to get close with but when Sayuri has the opportunity, she finds that Nobu is very kind and good friend. Sayuri likes him as a friend but Nobu is fond of her because he falls in love with her. When the time Nobu gives his proposal to be her danna comes, Sayuri prefers to accept General Tottori as her danna. If she accepts Nobu’s proposal, her way to get the Chairman will be totally closed. Her decision makes Nobu angry; Nobu never comes to see her again for several years. Sayuri is very sad with that, she sacrifices her friendship once again, and she is loosing her good friend once again.
After the Word War II, Nobu gives his proposal to be Sayuri’s danna
because she has affair with man who is not her danna. And she also sacrifices her body to the man she does not love. She feels the terror when having sex with the Minister; she feels like being raped.
With those sacrifices she does get a better life she wants. From a poor little girl she becomes a popular geisha in Gion. She becomes the daughter of the okiya; this means that she is now rich and Hatsumomo will never able to torture her again. To be a popular geisha means easier for her to see the Chairman. Nobu is angry with her and he lets go his intention to be her danna. This means that the Chairman has the opportunity to give more attention to Sayuri. It is the better life for Sayuri because her mission to be a geisha is to reach the Chairman.
The explanation above shows us how Sayuri sacrifices her own feeling in keeping the good relationship with her friends. She lost her family and lives alone in the new place, so it is important for her to make a relationship with every body. This relationship, however, is jeopardizing her career as a geisha. She has to sacrifice her relationship with people she cares about in order not to make her career stuck. In fact she has to separate her private life from her social life, because they cannot get along together. That’s the mental sacrifices Sayuri’s done for her career in the effort to achieve a better life to be with the Chairman.
b) Sayuri’s Struggles
to what ever he or she already left behind. Sayuri’s struggle starts with her efforts to be a good geisha under Mameha’s guidance. She really studies and works hard to catch up her two year absence from the geisha school. She is always obedient to Mameha, she does whatever Mameha tells her to do without complaining. Sayuri goes to school every early morning. She practices in the okiya, she takes lesson from Mameha, and still she has to work in okiya as a maid. Most of the teacher hates Hatsumomo and Hatsumomo easily makes them hate Sayuri as well. Because they know that Sayuri live in the same okiya with Hatsumomo, for several times the teacher treats Sayuri badly. Sayuri studies and practices harder then other children because of this treatment.
The struggles that Sayuri does are for two purposes. The first purpose is to ensure her good career and the second is to catch her dream to live with the Chairman. She finds out that the only way to get the Chairman is by becoming a good geisha. So, she fights to become a popular and respectable geisha. But when she is already a popular geisha, obstacles come to her that again fail her effort to be the Chairman’s. Yet, she continues her struggle to omit the obstacles.
difficult to avoid Hatsumomo’s espionages. When Hatsumomo tries to push her around to tell her about Mameha’s plan, it is almost impossible for Sayuri to keep silence without leaving clues for Hatsumomo. Although Sayuri says nothing to Hatsumomo, Hatsumomo can find the clues from Sayuri’s expressions, and attitudes. But Sayuri is a good fighter; she is never give up to anything. She always has a wise plan to overcome every problem in her way to be successful, and she proofed herself that her struggle is so fruitful.
Mother and Hatsumomo will always underestimate Sayuri if she does not repay her debt as soon as possible. Sayuri attends all the parties where she is invited, which are many. She has to earn much money to pay her debt. But all this efforts are nothing because she cannot pay the debt before she turns twenty years old. Mother and Mameha have a negotiation about it, if Sayuri is able to repay all her debt before twenty, Mother will pay a big deal of money to Mameha, and Mameha will pay the Mother if Sayuri is not able to repay all her dept before twenty. The solution of that problem is that Sayuri should sell her mizuage. She gives all her energy and strategy to get the best competitors to offer her mizuage. It is tiring because Hatsumomo always does her trick to make the bidder cancel the offer. Sayuri and Mameha do anything to get the bidder’s trust back.
Nobu is not a good looking man. Often called Mr. Lizard, Nobu has tragic scars from the war against Korea that he has terrible burns on the side of his face, his neck and his ear. He also lost his left arm above the elbow. While serving this ugly-looking man, struggles with her own feeling for the Chairman, Sayuri pretending that Nobu is the one who is always in her mind.
Sayuri becomes a popular geisha in Gion, and Nobu wants to be her
danna. This is the part of Sayuri’s struggle to get the Chairman. Sayuri knows what it will be in her future if Nobu becomes her danna. Sayuri decides to be a good geisha because she wants to get closer to Chairman; Nobu will ruin her dream and her plan to get close to Chairman. Sayuri’s struggle to chase her dream is by making Nobu angry. She tries to escape from her destiny to be Nobu’s mistress by accepting General Tottori as her danna instead.
Nobu wants to be her danna once again after the Word War II. But Sayuri uses the Minister as a weapon to make Nobu angry to her and leave her alone. She takes the Minister to the old theater to sexually serve him, but before that she asks Pumpkin to bring Nobu to the old theater. Sayuri hopes when she and the Minister in the theater Nobu will see them together, Nobu will be very upset and never wants to see her again. In this way, she will be free to get close to the Chairman again. This is Sayuri’s last struggle; because finally Nobu really leaves her alone forever.
Chairman’s mistress, she ends her career as a geisha. Although sometimes she misses her days as a geisha, she feels very lucky that she attains to her mission, which is to own the Chairman. After years of becoming the Chairman’s mistress, she decides to leave Japan and moves to New York City. She never returns to Japan. In New York she has several Japanese tea houses and lives happily there with several old friends from Gion. Chairman passes away in her arm years latter.
From Sayuri’s sacrifices and struggles above we can see that to be a geisha does not always have the negative meaning. Plenty of effort is needed to be geisha and it is a good thing because they are not prostitutes who only sell their body without formal education. Geisha go to school since they were little girls, and they pass the stages one by one with efforts to be a good geisha. And to be good geisha will guarantee their future life.
B. Competition Among Geisha
very good value instead. This good value is to encourage the geisha to do the best and to work harder in order to get a better life.
The competit ion among the geisha happens mostly for the sake of gaining much more money; however, the competition also happens to maintain their existence in Gion. They even do the competition inside the okiya to get or to maintain their certain positions. But of course gaining a lot of money is the basic issue of the competition. If they can get a lot of money it will influence their existence in Gion and okiya as well. The competition to get a good position in the okiya happens between Sayuri and Pumpkin. They are competing to be the adopted daughter in the okiya.
a great geisha. Unlike Sayuri, Pumpkin is not good in dancing and playing instruments. She even has a bad hearing in setting the notes of her shamisen. That makes her, as an apprentice geisha, depends on Hatsumomo’s popularity very much.
Pumpkin desperately wants to be the adopted daughter of the okiya because she knows about her own limited abilities. She knows that she cannot survive and compete with other geisha in Gion. That is why she needs to be the adopted daughter, because with this position she can retire as a geisha and runs the okiya as the Mother’s successor. Meanwhile, Sayuri needs to be the adopted daughter in order to save her career from Hatsumomo’s cruel plans. Hatsumomo tries to send her away from okiya and from Gion. Sayuri is afraid that she even won’t be able to finish her apprentice stage. If she becomes an adopted daughter she will be safe from Hatsumomo’s evil plans. However, this competition is quite unequal. Even though Pumpkin tries very hard to get the position, the Mother knows that Sayuri has the brighter future than Pumpkin. That is why Sayuri wins the competition.
the position they want people have to abandon their personal relationship and compete professionally with someone they really respe ct and care about.
This competition also happens between Sayuri and Hatsumomo. Hatsumomo hates Sayuri so much because of her good qualities. Hatsumomo is also a very pretty and smart geisha but she uses her gift in the wrong way. People in Gion who know her hate her, because she has a very bad temper,tat is, she loves to hurt others’ feeling with her words. She loves to drink and lies to people just to make someone she hates miserable. She cannot keep her manner and reputation by having affair with a poor married young man whom she brings to the okiya in midnight when everybody sleeps, which is forbidden. Her bad reputation makes her never be asked to take a part in annual event dancing performers even though she is a beautiful dancer. To make it worse, she always gets drunk when she comes home at night to okiya after attending parties. She becomes a popular geisha because of her beauty that attracts the costumers who mostly do not know about her bad behaviors.
because she is too drunk and cannot control her emotion. This incident makes Hatsumomo ruin her own career so that Mother sends her away from the okiya and she disappears from Gion as well.
Before Hatsumomo placed Sayuri as her rival, she already has a very difficult rival to compete with, she is Mameha. Mameha is not as pretty as Hatsumomo but she has a lot of good values that Hatsumomo does not have. Mameha is smart and a hard worker, she is also very competent in analyzing situation around her and formulates it into a useful thing for her plans. Her strategies make her become the number one geisha in that era. Her strategies also lead Sayuri into her success. Mameha is very successful and rich geisha that makes her be able to buy her freedom out from the okiya, the thing that only a great geisha can effort.
Hatsumomo hates her to death and placed her as rival, but on the other hand, Mameha never thinks it seriously because she knows that it is useless for her to compete with Hatsumomo, for she cannot be better than her. If Hatsumomo calls her as “Miss Perfect”, Mameha calls Hatsumomo as “Miss Nothing”. This competition happens from one side only, from Hatsumomo’s, while Mameha never makes it a problem for her. She has to send Hatsumomo away from Gion just because Hatsumomo tries to ruin Sayuri’s career.
hand, Hatsumomo does not play her role well. Physically she is a geisha but mentally she is not. Hatsumomo’s bad temper ruins her own career. To be a geisha is about a great deal of good manner and attitude. They have to control their emotion cleverly. They are very straight in applying their rules and ethics. This is the positive side of this profession. They really know how to keep their reputation. If they spoil it once it can be disastrous to their career and it will surely give a big influence their good life.
C. Eroticism Depicted in the Novel
This part is very important because it helps the reader to pictures the condition of Japanese society in facing the sexual issues in that era. It is also shows that geisha also has to follow the ethics and norms in the society. It is clearly seen that the basic issue in the profession of a geisha is selling sexuality in terms of eroticism. Eroticism would be the theme of this discussion. As artists, geisha indeed have to study and work hard while becoming sexually attractive as sexuality has an important role in this profession. For example, a geisha sells her virginity or her mizuage to the highest bidder, she serves the customers in the curtain gestures to shows her sex appeal, and if she is lucky she has a danna who will support her needs with sexual intercourse as a reward.
As explained in the theoretical chapter, there are six techniques used by a novelist in presenting eroticism: mentioning the sex organs, describing/ depicting sex organs, describing flirtation scenes, describing sexual deviation, describing sexual intercourse scenes, and describing parts of body which are sensual. Here the writer will focus on four techniques as clearly seen in the novel. Those techniques are mentioning the sex organs, describing flirtation scenes, describing sexual intercourse scenes, and describing parts of body which are sensual.
a) Mentioning the Sex Organs
sexual organs or sexual activities without guilty and shameful feelings. They presumably think it improper and impolite to ta lk about the sex organs and sexual activities explicitly. The following description, for example, helps the reader imagine what exactly happens and what the author exactly wants to describe.
It was not a good bathing dress, because it sagged at her chest whenever she bent over, and one of the boys would scream, “Look! You can see Mount Fuji!” but she wore it just the same. (18)
For describing woman’s breasts the narrator uses the word “Mount Fuji”, the reader instantly will think about woman’s breasts in that context.
Then he lowered his eyes to the darkness that had bloomed on me in the years since I’d come to Kyoto. His eyes remained there a long while; but at length they rose up slowly, passing over my stomach, along my ribs, to the two plum-colored circles—first on one side, and than on the other. (262)
The darkness in the text above means the hair that grows in the woman’s sexual organ. The two plum-colored circles in the text mean woman’s nipples. This concept makes the reader think it first before knowing exactly what the narrator talks about. The narrator makes the description more poetical and it sounds good. That makes the improper thing becomes proper without loosing the meaning.
it is the time Sayuri should know about mizuage, Mameha tries to explain to her in a smoot h way so that it will not make Sayuri shocked.
“You may not know this about eels,” Mameha went on, “but they’re quite territorial. When they find a cave they like, they wriggle around inside in for a while to be sure that…well, to be sure it’s a nice cave, I suppose. And when they’ve made up their minds that it’s comfortable, they mark the cave as their territory…by spitting. Do you understand?” (232)
Mameha describes the men’s sexual organ as eel and women’s as cave. She also describes men’s ejaculation as eel’s spitting the cave. It is a good explanation for a naïve girl like Sayuri because it does not sound too vulgar. Mentioning the sex organs just like how it should be is supposedly not polite, especially for the eastern people.
b) Describing Flirtation Scenes
Flirtation is a very important part in the profession of a geisha. Geisha should speak and act to flirt the customers. They need to do the flirtation because the customers need it as well. The customers come to them because they want to be entertained, and flirtation is the part of the entertainment itself. Geisha learn from their older sisters and other geisha how to speak and how to act in front of the customers. They learn how to do the flirtation without giving wrong perception about their pr ofession.
would have thought she’d given herself over very briefly to strong feelings she was struggling to hide. (159)
This flirtation is the simple one. People sometime do not notice that it is a flirtation. It is because geisha do that as naturally as possible so it makes the target feel flattered. Women at that period and in that society are used to walk down the street with eyes to the ground, in order to be polite. So when a pretty girl with beautiful eyes like Sayuri does such thing like what Mameha did, it will give an extremely pleasing effect to the man. Man will think that Sayuri has a special feeling to him, and that reaction is what Sayuri and Mameha want.
In talking to the costumers, geisha also should give the flirtation if it is needed. In this novel, obviously we can see through Sayuri’s experience in talking to Dr. Crab in the Baron’s party. Sayuri was the Doctor’s patie nt. She had a wound high up on the back of her thigh and she told the Doctor that she fell down when she went to the toilet because she lost her balance when struggling with her kimono. At the party the Doctor is questioning Sayuri whether she has already practiced her balance in the toilet. As a smart geisha, Sayuri knows that the Doctor wants her to give the flirtation answer.
After this, he leaned back and closed his eyes. It was clear to me he expected to hear and answer longer than simply a word or tw o.
……… “Every night,” I went on, “just before I step into the bath, I practice balancing in a variety of positions. Sometimes I have to shiver from the cold air against my bare skin; but I spend life or ten minutes that way.”
What Sayuri said gives the Doctor a chance to imagine Sayuri’s condition when Sayuri is naked in the bath room. No matter whether Sayuri is telling lies or not, what the Doctor wants to hear is something to imagine; and as a good geisha, Sayuri gives it.
Flirtation can also be in a form of action. Some geisha and also some best customers are used to have a party in such a hot-spring pool. They used to bath together in a group; they also sleep t ogether in a big room.
If Nobu had been the sort of man to tease, he might have drifted over toward me; and then after we’d chatted for a time he might suddenly have grabbed me by the hip, or…well, almost anywhere, to tell the truth. The proper next step would be for me to scream and Nobu to laugh, and that would be the end of it. But Nobu was not the sort of man to tease. (396)
It is the most serious flirtation, but as Sayuri said, “its end up like this”, it means that they will not go any further such as having sex. A good respectable geisha will never do more from that. In this step of flirtation the customers not only imagining and visualizing but also they can feel and touch them. Actually lots of flirtations can be found in the life of geisha but the writer just focusing on those three steps of flirtation.
c) Sexual Intercourse Scenes
never told the description of it in the novel. Sayur i does not descript her sexual intercourse with him because she really loves him, and she respects him by does not describe their sexual intercourse. Besides, the reader will still be able to imagine that it is pleasurable because they love each other. While with Nobu, Sayuri never do the sexual intercourse. Sayuri respects him as a friend and she will never insult him by giving him a one night stand. In her effort to fail Nobu’s will to be her danna, it is wise for her not to having sex with him. Nobu is a respectable man and he also respects Sayuri as a good geisha. He will never spoil their relationship and Sayuri’s reputation by asking her to have a one night stand.
Sayuri does not enjoy her sexual intercourse with Dr. Crab, General Tottori and the Minister, but she does enjoy her sexual intercourse with Yasuda Akira. When she does it with the Doctor and the General, it is just an obligation for her, because they’re already paying for that service. When she does it with the Minister, it is just a compulsive act. But she enjoys having sex with Yasuda because she wants to; it is her own will without any burden.
It is her first time she has the sexual intercourse, and it is with Dr. Crab. She feels scared and disgusted with that experience. But she should hide her own feeling and terror from the Doctor.
The terror she gets from her first sexual intercourse with the Doctor follows her in every sexual intercourse with other man, including with the General.
Sexual intercourse is really the basic issue in the profession as geisha, because geisha have to sell their mizuage to support their need in order to repay the debt, and mizuage is the point to define how the career of the geisha would be. The higher the mizu age was sold the better career the geisha will get. Having a danna is really important part in the life of geisha because it gives them the respect from others, and of course they will be rich from the
danna’s support.
In the three years since my mizuage, I’d forgotten the sheer terror I’d felt when the Doctor finally lowered himself onto me. I remembered it now, but the strange thing was that I did not feel terror so much as a kind of vague queasiness. (305)
After several months passed, her sickness fee ling goes away and her intercourse with the General becomes nothing more than an unpleasant twice-weekly routine.
Her sexual intercourse with the two men makes her feel silly. She does not understand if she feels nothing pleasant with the sexual intercourse. What do people actually want from that? When she meets Yasuda Akira her young man customer who is fond of her, he gives her the feeling of longing for men’s touch on her bare skin.
not shocked to see how expertly his hands slipped through the seams in my clothing to find my skin. (307)
She completely does not feel the terror anymore, and it releases her. She finally finds the feeling that should be there when people do the sexual intercourse. She also feels being released because she can imagine how it will feel like if she does it with the Chairman.
But the terror comes again when she does the sexual intercourse with the Minister.
…but at that moment I heard the jingling of his belt, and then the zip of his pants, and a moment later he was forcing himself inside me. Somehow I felt like a fifteen-year-old girl again, becaus e the feeling was so strangely reminiscent of Dr. Crab. I even heard myself whimper. (403)
The strongest trauma appears again in this intercourse. But she fights to over come this feeling; she has to hide the feeling inside because this sexual intercourse is the most important step to change her future.
d) Describing the Body Parts which are Sensual
Geisha has a certain part of the body which they consider sensual. The sensual part of the body is really known by them and they make it much more sensual by make up and ornaments. Geisha always paint their upper body and also the face with white. They have a sensual reason with that besides abiding to traditional values. They use the white paint in their skin to hide their bare skin, so that men will be curious to see what inside the white mask is.
that the first few bumps of the spine are visible; I suppose it’s like a woman in Paris wearing a short skirt. (63)
The back of the neck is also painted white, with a design called
sanbon -ashi—“three legs”. This symbol gives dramatic feeling like a woman who peers out from between her fingers. This three legs’ design is left without white paint and shows the bare skin. It is erotic because that gives men some strong feeling to be much more aware of the bare skin beneath. The dramatic feelings aroused by the face mask looks like the Noh mask that they use in Noh theatrical drama. The lips that are painted red— like a drop of cherry syrup on the middle of a cup of white snow—are full and look fresh as to make men want to taste them.
The hairstyle of the apprentice geisha also has the sensual effect to men. The apprentice geisha always wear a split-peach hairstyle called “pincushion”.
The knot—what I’ve called the “pincushion”—is formed by wrapping the hair around a piece of fabric. In back where the knot is split, the fabric is left visible; it might be any design or color, but in the case of an apprentice geisha—after a certain point in her life, at least—it’s always red silk. (163)
The other part of geisha’s body which is sensual is the forearm. Geisha never do the domestic job in the house because all they need always provided by the maid, that makes geisha have smooth beautiful hands.
Mameha said the prettiest part of the arm was the underside, so I must always be sure to hold the teapot in such a way that the man saw the bottom of my arm rather than the top. (169)
Geisha should show the forearm without being too obvious what they are doing. It gives the feeling that the man for who the geisha pouring tea is permitted to see parts of geisha’s body no one else can see. Geisha are always wearing heavy and thick kimonos and they are always hiding their bare skin except the “three legs” design. That is why showing the underside of arm gives a little bit similar effect as showing the bottom of foot—since geisha are always wearing Japanese traditional socks called tabi—or the inside of thigh.
From the analysis above we can see that sexuality can be considered as eroticism. The eroticism which is depicted in the novel is about the art of eroticism. This art of eroticism is very important to learn by geisha to entertain the customers and to maintain their existence. Geisha know exactly how to use their sexual appeal in a proper way, because it will influence their reputation as geisha. If they do use their sexual appeal in a wrong way—just like what prostitutes do—they will spoil their reputation. And it will make their career as geisha in danger, so that it will put their future life in jeopardy.
CHAPTER V
CONCLUSION
The portrayal of the life of geisha is represented by Sayuri’s character in the novel Memoirs of A Geisha. Sayuri’s childhood name is Sakamoto Chiyo. Born in a small village in Yoroido, she is sold by her father because he cannot support his family’s life anymore. They are very poor and the mother’s illness makes it worse. She is sold to the geisha house called Nitta okiya. In her way to be a geisha, she passes a lot of obstacles and troubles. The positive values of the sacrifices and struggle can support the good idea of this profession. Sayuri’s sacrifice by hiding her real background is one of them. She cannot tell to people that she comes from a small and dump place like Yoroido for her own good. She has to sacrifice her friendships with people she cares about. She also has to sacrifice her virginity and sells it to the highest bidder which left her a trauma. Sayur i’s sacrifice is more mentally than physically ones. Physically, she is fine but she is tired and tortured inside. Losing friends really breaks her heart but she has to survive from that guilty feeling. She knows that all she has sacrificed is paid off if she can be the Chairman’s mistress.
Hatsumomo’s trickery. She also has to work hard to get close to the Chairman which means she has to break the hurt of her friend Nobu, and make him hate her. This sacrifice and struggle shows that to become a geisha is like a battle. People cannot equalize them with prostitute because of that battle. They have to pay their training which is not cheap at all to get their skills in art.
The competition among geisha also becomes a part of Sayuri’s career. This competition encourages her to struggle more. She is fighting to get a big deal of money to win the competition against Pumpkin and Hatsumomo. They compete to get the good position in the okiya. Sayuri wins the competition by becoming the adopted daughter and she also cleverly uses Hatsumomo’s bad temper to send her away from Gion. This competition is very good in motivate the geisha to be the best. A good geisha is the competitive one, it means every good geisha will do her best to learn and practice more and more to make her deserved to entertain. This competition adds the good values of sacrifice and struggle to get a better life in the world of geisha. The better life here is about achieving the higher level of the society. Being geisha, moreover a successful geisha is much honored in Japanese society because she is an artist and totally live in the Japanese culture and tradition, the most important is that she will be rich, and famous.
substitute it with other objects, for examples breast as Mount Fuji, penis as eel, and vagina as cave. Describing flirtation scenes, the geisha used to speak and act in certain ways to pleased and flattered the costumers. Sexual intercourse scenes, there is the time for the mizuage ceremony, it means the young geisha is ready to sells her virginity to the highest bidder. And describing parts of body which are sensual, women’s neck and throat, and underside of arms are the example of the part of body which considered sensual. The significant of this section is to show that there are art involve in this activity. Geisha learn to use their sexual appeals in a good way. They learn and use it for the sake of art; it is what we call eroticism. There is esthetics in the eroticism that geisha apply in their role as entertainers. Besides geisha in fact are artists, they sing, dance and play music instrument. They also major in tea ceremony which is a very spiritual Japanese tradition. Eroticism that geisha apply is not far from their role as artist. They will not break the geisha ethics if they still want to be a geisha because it will spoil their reputation. If they reputation spoiled, it means they have a gloomy future and it is difficult for them to get a better life in Gion.
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