The Life of an Amorous Woman
The Life of an Amorous Woman (好色一代女 Kōshoku Ichidai Onna) is a novel of the floating world by Ihara Saikaku, published in 1686.[1]
Plot summary
A man of the world who lives in the capital city Kyoto travels to Saga, a suburban area of Kyoto, with some friends. They meet an old woman who lives in a grass hut and listen to the story of her life experiences. She was born as the daughter of a family of court nobles, but loses her privileged status, tumbling ever downward through a life mixed with pleasure and trouble in which she goes from being the mistress of a Daimyo, to Courtesan, and a streetwalker. At each stage, she tries to crawl up from the station in which she finds herself, but her own nature causes her to fail. The Kenji Mizoguchi film Life of Oharu is based upon this novel.[2]
References
External links
- A discussion of the differences between the novel and film
- Information of the English language editions of the book in Google Books.