Throughout history, people have always tried to break a certain silence: Martin Luther King Jr. with civil rights, Nelson Mandela with justice, Edward Snowden with constitutional violations. Ihara Saikaku also broke the silence with her piece Life of a Sensuous Woman. Saikaku wrote about topics and issues that most Japanese people thought about but no one dared to express. Saikaku broke this silence by writing about subjects that no one dared to broach. Despite the title, several themes prevail in The Life of a Sensual Woman: the true nature of women, the true nature of men, and the Buddhist faith. The Life of a Sensual Woman tells the story of an unnamed elderly woman recounting her life experiences to two young men. . The woman confesses to all the unspeakable acts she has committed, such as how many times she had sex and who she slept with. This woman's stories begin with her life as the daughter of a former aristocrat in the capital city of Kyoto, Japan. The woman told them about the occupations she had during her life, starting as a servant in the imperial palace and eventually becoming a prostitute. The woman narrates her experiences of love, what it means to be loved and the true nature of love and love. In the end, she accepts her life and confesses to her life of misdeeds. One of the first and most prevalent themes in The Life of a Sensual Woman is that of women. Everything from the way they act to the way they think is faithfully conveyed in the story. The story presents women as very adaptable people. In The Life of a Sensual Woman, the old woman had many occupations: servant, prostitute, teacher, courier, geisha and mistress. This shows that no matter what situation a woman finds herself in, she always manages to land on her feet. As Elizabeth Cadell once said... middle of paper ......t people. But as The Life of a Sensual Woman shows, not only does history repeat itself, but some elements remain unchanged. Men and women haven't changed much over the past 300 years. If Life of a Sensuous Woman were to be read by random people and asked to guess when it was published, most, if not all, would guess that it was published within the last thirty years. Through clever use of satirical elements, Ihara Saikaku forces readers to look critically at life and question its fundamentals.Works CitedSaikaku, Ihara. “The life of a sensual woman.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Ed. Puchner, Martin and Suzanne Akbari, eds. Flight. D. New York: WW Norton & Company, 2012. Print. 6 flights. “Quote from Mahatma Gandhi.” BrainyQuote.com. Xplore and Web. March 19, 2014. “Elizabeth Cadell Quotes.” » Goodreads.com. Goodreads Inc., and Web. March 19. 2014.