Abstract
The Heian Period (794-1185) saw the rise of many forms of Japanese literature. A significant number of the works produced at this time were written by women, notably of the highest class. The aristocratic ladies-in-waiting spent long days confined to their residences. Many turned to literature to pass the time, and some of the works have survived a thousand years, testifying to their popularity and quality.
The many characters in Heian literature differ through the various genres, but one common theme is the relationships between men and women. Romance was a favourite pastime for the Heian aristocrats, and so became the central theme to many works, the Genji Monogatari the clearest example.
It is unfortunate that factual works describing the social customs and traditions of the Heian period's aristocracy are few. One area which is of special interest is marriage, and inter-gender relations in general. The forms of courtship and marriage which governed the upper Heian classes differ markedly from later periods. Through this thesis I shall describe how women lived in the Heian period, the methods and customs followed in courtship and marriage, and how these changed with the passage of time.
Instead of using factual records as a basis for the observations, the mainly fictional will form the primary source of research. The monogatari written by the women contained many descriptions of fictional Heian courtiers, but along with nikki they also reflect the traditions that governed the period, providing a variable source of information on intergender relationships.
It is important to note that all the works that have survived from the Heian period were written by the period's highest class. Descriptions of the lower classes and their lifestyles are very rare. The members of the upper classes were very derogatory in their treatment of those living 'below' them. They considered them to be not fellow human beings, but as if they were animals, and the literature studied in this thesis reflects these attitudes. Any descriptions within the literature studied of the marriage customs and courtship among the lower classes will be used to help formulate a more general pattern of inter-gender relations in these classes.
I found through my research that marriage customs and traditions changed markedly following the Heian period. The traditions described in popular Heian literature are not always followed in the future, and the roles of the husband and wife in the marriage also changed. Only the custom of arranged marriages was found to be similar in the modem age. Descriptions of inter-gender relations among the lower classes were not found, but evidence collected by other scholars shows that they differ to those of the aristocracy. The husband, wife, and their families played differing roles in the marriage, with the wife and her family dominating marital residence and child rearing, while the husband dominated financial and military matters.