Tang Xianzu`s The Peony Pavilion

Tang Xianzu`s The Peony Pavilion

Question One

The difference in perceptions between adults and young people play out frequently in The Peony Pavilion ' One such difference is the young person 's desire for the experience of beauty and the adult 's insistence on the need for discipline . This is aptly illustrated in the exchange between Du Liniang and Master Ch 'en when she wanted to take a walk in the garden . Master Ch 'en chastises and ridicules her and tells her that she cannot maintain the proper frame of mind for study

if she chooses to indulge the spring . To Du Liniang , the walk is on opportunity to enjoy what both beautiful and transitory . If she does not grasp it now , the spring will soon be gone . This is also a metaphor for youth . Young people seek to capture their youth and often spend time that does not prepare them for the future . Master Ch 'en can only see preparation and discipline . He , in fact , states plainly that he never even notices the passing of spring . This clash of views works out to demonstrate the clash between youth and adulthood in the play . Like Bridal 's exchange with Madame Du , the observer 's stage in life has everything to do with their perception of things . The young immerse themselves in an irrational quest for the experience of beauty , while the old are immersed in a practical scrutiny regarding what one essentially needs to be able to survive . Throughout the work , this serves to polarize the wishes and values of young people and adults

Question 2

Spring Fragrance is the stereotypical rebellious assistant in The Peony Pavilion ' She is constantly seeking assist her mistress in her exalted notions of love . In the interim , she is also challenges traditional notions of the world through her conflicts with Master Ch 'en . One example of this is when she is studying the Book of Songs which Ch 'en interprets as a work that examines the importance of feminine virtue . Spring does not see it this way and challenges her teacher 's interpretation of the poem . Ch 'en becomes thoroughly enraged by her defiance . She also attempts later to persuade Du Liniang to sneak out into the large garden with her . This is symbolic of her overall role . She is the assistant that is seeking to enlarge Du Liniang 's world and introduce her to the beauty that life has to offer a young person : namely , romantic love . Throughout the play , Spring is demonstrating to Du that she has the ability to rebel and seek what she is looking for . This is a very typical character in theater . One would have to look no farther than Romeo Juliet ' to find a comparable character in Juliet 's nurse . These characters are significant for they are catalysts for the growth of the main character . This allows the audience to see the character evolving in stages instead of simply changing overnight . Without a character such as Spring Fragrance...