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Atsumori
Zeami Motokiyo
What effect this story had in terms of people questioning the validity of war? Did it make people think twice about supporting wars? Did it make soldiers think twice about killing? On an unrelated note, what was the purpose of the chorus repeating certain lines?
It's very interesting to me that the Heike Monogatari seems to disobey the English adage "history is written by the victors" -- it tells much of the story from the perspective of the defeated Taira and sympathizes with them. Is this the result of a combination of Buddhist views on the fleeting nature of life and an attempt to evoke sadness for mono no aware-style beauty? Or are there other factors that influence the structure of this story? And furthermore, do we see the influences of these factors on the non-monomythic (by which I mean deviating from Campbell's Hero's Journey narrative) structure of other ancient Japanese tales, too?
We see the pain and loss it brings to Naozane and Atsumori. Is the play, Atsumori, anti-war?
I found it very interesting to read about the blending of commoner and aristocratic cultures that was occurring during this time period. It seems like this fusion of cultures led to a lot of new and very interesting literature, poetry, and theater. I am curious if there was any resistance to these two previously very divided cultures beginning to influence each other. Did any aristocrats wish to keep their poetry and literature to themselves? Did the commoners appreciate having these traditionally aristocratic stories like the Tale of Genji integrated into their culture?
In "Nō Drama", it is mentioned that this type of drama was performed by an all-male cast, which reminds me of how women were banned from singing and performing in early European opera. I was wondering if Nō drama was exclusively performed by males because women were not allowed to perform or if it was more of a unanimous preference from women at the time.