Essay Sample on Chun-Hyang: Kisaengs of Goryeo - A Tale of a Female Character

Introduction

CH'UN- HYANG the name of a female character where she is a daughter of Wolmae, who was initially a courtesan. The Kisaeng was the name of the outcast slaves who were trained to be courtesans providing the artistic entertainment and conversation to men with a class or royal status. In the past, appearing in Goryeo, the Kisaeng were majorly the state's legal entertainers who were expected to make performances in various events. The writer has molded the female character in a great and impressive character with traits and characters that are attractive to the eye and every song listener.

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Chunhyang is shown to be an excellent character as she attracts the eyes of Yi Mongryong to fall in love instantly with her, and they end up in a marriage. Yi Mongryong is unable to resist her beauty in appearance, and he goes ahead to ask for Wolmae’s permission to marry her daughter, where they are permitted and proceed. There is a status difference between the couple as Yi Mongryong is from a royal background, a family of a government official (magistrate) who is an intelligent and handsome man. Chunhyang's character contribution is drawn from an attractive angle where the writer not only develops her physical appearance, but also her beauty reflects her inner self.

Chunhyang is a round character who is well developed in the story. We get to see all her details about this character, as she is the load of the story as her actions develop the story and give a deep sensitivity to the advancement of the plot. She appears more involved with an image of a real person with depth and emotion. Her emotions take a direction of love, as she is shown to remain truthful and faithful to the promises that she made to her husband, Yi Mongryong. She goes through a testing time under the leadership of Pyong, who forces her to go to his party and later takes advantage to sleep with her, where he finds her standing morals, and she does not give in to the obligation. Chunhyang has excellent morals that serve as a reflection of society's modeling of the decaying morals that are disappointing. Again, she is taken through a tough testing period where she has to choose her husband, who left her to follow his father or the new age of leadership with Pyong her link to royalty despite coming from a poor background.

In the continued story of Chunhyang, she is equipped with another character where she is drawn as dynamic. This is because she experiences a vital, internal transition because of the action in her story development. The character transition is evident as her loyalty to marriage leads her to imprisonment and under the leadership of lord, Pyong, who is corrupt and has a lousy era of leadership filled with greed. Then when her husband came back from as an undercover emissary of the king and Chunhyang did not recognize him, she remained faithful despite he trying to spend a night with her (Yuh, p. 209). This moved him as the level of faithfulness and trust was overwhelming, promising greater future together as depicted by the song that they were happy ever after. The heart of resilience portrayed to the level of taking a jail term rather than losing morals is the character that Yi Mongryong got attracted to, and it is evident he was right in his judgment.

Chunhyang is a consistent character who behaves in the same way he was since the beginning of the story's narration. She has the same attitudes towards people and things and achieves the same level of success in everything she does. She can maintain her standards of beauty even after being married to the royal family of her husband. She is also consistent with her character and the deep sense of emotion. All that is seen through the song where she demonstrates nothing but a deep sense of emotion for people around her, and thus, she can keep most of her friends and family. She remains in love with her husband, and she is faithful all the while in the marriage. She opposes the moves by Pyong, who tries to force himself on her, but her strong-willed self and consistency in character deter him from accomplishing his mission. Her consistency is also witnessed where she still chooses to remain and stick by his husband, who at one time leaves her for his father. She remains faithful to him, and she is not persuaded to cheat on him.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Song of Ch'un Hyang is is about a female character with characters that help drive the agenda of the writer, which he wants to project to his audience. The writer wanted to show the consistent, all-around, beautiful, faithful woman who is forced to endure a lot but remains and keeps her virtues despite the challenges. Chunhyang is beautiful, a trait that the narrator of the song brings out through his descriptive words of her beauty, which gets the son of a royal government official Yi Mongryong. He asks for her hand in marriage. Her all-around character is developed throughout the story from all the different phases of her life. She is also dynamic as because of her love and commitment to her marriage, she gets imprisoned but adapts in the harsh conditions. All through the song, the most important part about her character is the consistency she demonstrates and never wavers in her virtues.

Work Cited

Yuh, Ji Hyon. "“Are They Supposed to Be Heugin?": Negotiating Race, Nation, and Representation in Korean Musical Theatre." (2018). 204-218