Compared to other literature of the Heian period, the Torikaebaya Monogatari stands out as an unusual story. The reversal of gender roles that is central to the plot is a narrative device not found among other surviving monogatari from this era. Although considered mere entertainment by many readers, Torikaebaya explores what it meant to be both a woman and a man in the Heian period. Another story that has a similar plot, although far removed from Heian Japan, is the novel Orlando, written by Virginia Woolf. Orlando also uses gender reversal as a cornerstone of the narrative, and like Torikaebaya, this allows the characters to experience and contrast the reality of each gender. If we compare these two stories in terms of how genders are represented, some common themes emerge related to literature written by women. However, to proceed from this perspective, the reader must make some assumptions regarding the Torikaebaya. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The authorship of Torikaebaya Monogatari is uncertain and will most likely remain so. In the introduction to the English translation, Rosette Willig advances the arguments for male and female authorship. She speculates that Meiji scholars concluded male authorship simply because "they found it inconceivable that a court lady could have hatched such a distasteful and degenerate plot." (Willig, age 5) Despite this, there are legitimate reasons to consider the arguments for female fatherhood. Willig mentions that the style of the original Japanese is "written in a particularly feminine style" (Willig, 5), which, combined with the possibility of autobiographical elements, indicates that the story was written by someone who also experienced the confusion of the characters. . I would add that the focus on the female character Chunagon in the first book and the privileged attention the character receives in the rest of the story suggest that the story was written from a female perspective. Therefore, although authorship cannot be definitively established, the hypothesis of a female author is not unfounded, and this article will proceed from this premise. There is another question that the critical reader must consider before proceeding, and it does not concern Torikaebaya alone. , but also in Orlando. It's the question of intent, that is: are these stories simply meant to entertain, or do they contain implicit criticism embedded in the narrative? There is no doubt that both stories have much to recommend them in terms of enjoyable reading. The gender-reversal plot is quite intriguing, and both stories have survived to reach a modern readership (in Torikaebaya's case, much longer!), proof that there is something lasting in the history. However, especially when it comes to Torikaebaya, modern audiences must be careful not to read into the story an intention that might not have been possible. That said, both stories have sections in which criticisms of imposed gender roles are explicit. By extension, these critiques of gender roles are actually critiques of the society that imposed them. So are these stories polemical, that is to say do they attack an established code or behavior? In the case of Orlando, Virginia Woolf was able to record her intentions in her correspondence. I wasn't really sure how successful the mix of seriousness and absurdity was - I mean, I wanted to say some things were serious. (Langham, 236) If thefantasy was the vehicle Woolf used to criticize the patriarchal society in which she lived, it is perhaps valid to assume that the author of Torikaebaya also used a fantasy plot device to communicate her dissatisfaction with the role . women in society. Modern readers are not able to know with certainty the author's intention, but only indirect criticism would be available to women writers in Heian Japan. I think the similar depiction of gender roles in Torikaebaya and Orlando, as well as the plot device common to both stories, supports reading both stories as subtle critiques. The way gender roles are represented in Orlando and Torikaebaya are quite similar. For example, when the female Chunagon is described as having the qualities of the male...the girl was already quite mischievous at that point and was constantly playing kickball and shooting arrows outside...she quickly joined the rest of the men . and have fun with them as he pleases. (Willig, 15) When Orlando is described as male, he is described the same way. Again, they noted that she hated household affairs, getting up at dawn and walking in the fields before the sun rose. She knew how to drink with the best and loved games of chance. (Woolf, 109) Both stories equate the male gender with rugged pursuits and a love of being outdoors. These qualities contrast with the way in which the feminine gender is presented to the reader. The male Naishi no Kami is presented this way when he exhibits the qualities of the feminine gender. Finally his father put him to the study of letters and taught him the appropriate subjects, but the boy, in his embarrassment, could not fix his attention on any of them. ... His father, astonished at so many inclinations, criticized him constantly, until the miserable and intimidated boy was reduced to tears. (Willig, 14) This is similar to the description of Orlando as a woman. She burst into tears under slight provocation. She was unfamiliar with geography, found mathematics intolerable, and had certain quirks that are more common among women than men, such as that traveling south was like walking down a hill. (Woolf, 110)Here, women are portrayed as emotionally unstable and intellectually weak. Compared to descriptions of the qualities that characterize the masculine gender, the traits of the feminine gender are treated as less desirable and inferior. This inferiority is amplified when each character “changes” and assumes the female gender in society where previously he was accepted as a man. They no longer have the power and prestige that was granted to them due to the exhibition of accepted masculine gender traits. In the case of the Chunagon woman, she is denied freedom of movement and participation in society as an individual; now she must be a dependent. Chunagon had once sat alongside the men in his father's house, and he remembered now what had been said and done then. Saisho, however, kindly interrupted these memories: "Do you like this stuff?" Chunagon, embarrassed, did not like hearing such words, but he managed to feign indifference. (Willig, 122)Orlando faces a similar situation when society imposes an identity on him that matches his gender. The main charges against her were that she was dead and therefore could not hold any property; that she was a woman, which amounted to the same thing... All her estates were placed in Chancery and her titles suspended while the cases were in dispute. So she found herself.