Possibly one of the dumbest characters Yukio Mishima may have created, on a passage of his «modern No Theatre plays»: Dojoji. Kiyoko's obsession for the cupboard in which her ex-lover died after betraying her is not the main reason for that dumbness, though. Actually, she wants to lock herself inside the cupboard until she becomes "old and awful".
Above: one of Ito Shinsui's pre-Second World War prints (Ohmi Gallery collection).
Kiyoko thinks her beauty and youth represent all her wealth... She hadn't noticed that Spring was around either, at least not before she threatened to spill acid on her face inside the same cupboard, which is now (we get to know) placed inside the shop of an antiques dealer. She gives up from such dramatic intent once she admires her own beauty on the cupboard's mirrors, and stops trying to bargain the price of the cupboard as well - she no longer wants to buy it. Finally, she goes away to meet a guy who will tear her heart apart (she knows it since the beginning...), just because she had noticed, with this episode, that her face will remain the same, independently of love's misfortunes (is that so?!). How superficial can a character be? The surprising answer is: maybe not quite as much as a real human being... Mishima seemed to know that.
2 comments:
It’s so lucky for me to find your!
Thanks ! Supper Post !
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