A Discussion On The Destiny Of Feminine Tragedy In The Family Dramas Of The Dramas Of Yuan Dynasty

The women in the Family drama of the dramas of Yuan Dynasty are mainly referred to mother and wife in this article. Mothers'tragedies are mostly embodied in their majority's being as a widow, who suffer from the death of her husband and is forced to become the dominator of a family. However, people attach too much emphasis on the woman's lofty morality, which can be seen in her hard and full-hearted cultivating generations, faithfulness and unselfishness, sacrificing for family and ignoring her physical and mental needs related to an ordinary woman. Having no desire or pursuit of her own, the mother's life value lies in helping her sons to become brilliant person with achievements and fame, or fulfilling her husband's dying-wish. Often, such a woman exists as a role and an occupation, but those two are not the most important factors for her being as a"human being".The wives are divided into the first wife and the wife"besides the room"(the concubine). The former, which is distinguished according to the require of traditional culture on women's virtue, including"the wise wife"and"the bad wife". The wise wife's tragedy is reflected in the fact that although she is the aggregation of Chinese tradition of female virtue, she is always hurt by her husband, who overlooks her sincere pay. Nevertheless, she has to compromise toward her husband in the end. The deep reason lies in her purpose of adhering to her husband for a living, which enhances the idea of"inferior females and superior males"in a marriage. Worse still, the wise wife herself cannot agree with this any more. The bad wife's tragedy, on the other side, is that she treats herself as the most important; daring to pursue what she wants to possess. Thus usually she is punished by the so-called"just and typical penalty"and becomes the times sacrifice at last, in that her behaviors do not accord with the traditional ones and turn out as the main reason of bringing catastrophe to her family.The wives"besides the room", however, are mostly prostitutes and lead their later life followed by previous identities. Even though the models of the concubines cannot escape the doom of being calumniated due to their old experiences as strumpets. What's more, concubines in federal society were regarded as alternates for carrying on with clan generations, and in some dramas they are no more than instruments for bearing children.Those women tragedies in family dramas show us plentiful cultural values, which are embodied in the following three aspects:The first one is the traditional influence. Women's mind of chastity was promoted in Qing and Han Dynasty and then established as a law in Yuan Dynasty. Undergoing such a historical process, the concepts of"inferior females and superior males"as well as"men's controlling and women's obeying"were unconsciously agreed by women. This means that women consolidated their"slavishness"and attachment, which became the core reason for occurrence of their tragedies.The second aspect is the times. Yuan Dynasty is an age full exotic characteristics. Social turbulence brings families and marriages much unfortunateness, and economic prosperity lots of negative influences. Moreover, there was no ban on getting a concubine, generating a series of mortal results because of that.The last one is the authors'personal consciences. The literate man in Yuan Dynasty suffered from the agony of losing social statues, and they consoled and assured themselves by describing women's adoring toward their bookishness. Meanwhile, those authors were still greatly affected by the ethical culture of man-centered. Therefore, they did their utmost to praise the wise wives and on the contrary, uglifying and denouncing the images of bad wives without hesitation.