Men VS Women

Men VS Women
In general, it’s usually always the man who gets caught cheating in a relationship whether married or not. In this story it’s just the opposite; a woman who enters into a secret and passionate endeavor simply out of retaliating from being wrongfully accused by a man’s wife. This is revealed When Osen depressingly states, “My sleeve is already wet with tears. Having suffered the shame, there is nothing left to lose. I shall make love to Chozaemon and teach that woman a lesson” (Saikaku 602). This statement depicts a spiteful woman who is being governed by her emotions in addition to being led by bitter thoughts and lack of sound reasoning.
Driven by her passion for Chozaemon, Osen makes the mistake of allowing him to follow her home. Most men would immediately have turned the woman around from following him home to his wife and make allowances to meet her some time later. Osen, being a woman and probably thinking with her passion filled brain, not only allowed him to follow her home, but she foolishly let him into her home to fulfill their raging desires. This turned out to be a tragedy brought on by “a woman’s scorn”. Had the shoe been on the other foot and if the man was found in Osen’s place, I wonder if he would have taken his own life. I think not because most men don’t have the valor to take their own lives especially when it involves cheating with a woman or another man: it’s just a man thing. This is also revealed in the sentence that states, “Naked and terrified, he dashed out and ran a great distance to the house of a close relative …” (Saikaku 603). Here again is a true picture of a man at his best, running away and giving no thought as to what happens to the woman. Executing and reuniting him with Osen after he is finally caught. Here is just the thing that the Enlightenment Period was against, being ruled by passion and emotional impulses instead of sound judgment and good reasoning.