Historical books often criticize a society’s zeitgeist to display the harmful impacts they may have on one’s identity. This is true of Paradise of the Blind (Paradise) by Duong Thu Huong and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan (Fan) by Lisa See, which explore the demeaning impact of their respective societies’ standards upon love in female relationships and gender subjugation. See examines the impact upon women in a 19th century Chinese perspective, whereas Huong delves into a 20th century Vietnamese. The historical settings coerce women to experience interpersonal relationships without consent, due to the emphasis placed on Confucian ideals. Moreover, these ideals harm the protagonists as they suffer through common gender disparity. Hence, both …show more content…
In Fan, set during the Qing dynasty of 19th century China, society was dominated by Confucianism, whose social paradigms demanded placid women. Lily’s conformation to these ideals allow her to thrive in restrictive relationships, as portrayed by Lee’s repetition in ‘So often in our women’s songs, we say, “I had no feelings for my husband” … These are popular lines … in chorus after chorus, but on that day I had deep feelings for my husband, and he for me.’ The prominence of ‘feelings’ combined with the contrast between the unreciprocated relationships in conventional music and Lily’s experiences reiterate her societal compliance and thus class advancement. The collective identity of women and their relationships, in correlation to rural Chinese ideals, are shown in ‘All these types of love come out of duty, respect, and gratitude. Most … as the women in my county know, are sources of sadness, rupture, and brutality.’ The accumulated list of descriptors in both ‘duty … gratitude’ and ‘sadness … brutality’ highlight the irony of connections forming from mistreatment. Thus, while See’s depiction of Lily’s characterisation and societal influence explores female relationships in a time of social gender disparity, Huong depicts the detrimental impacts that forced female relationships can have on one’s …show more content…
In Paradise, the characters are embodied as the opposing political outlooks that dominated 20th century North Vietnam politics. Conflict between feminism and Confucianism is paralleled as conflict between Hang and her mother Que, ‘A kind of indifference had slipped into our relationship.’ Duong personifies ‘indifference’ as a physical obstruction, whereas in reality it is Que prioritising her nephews over her daughter. Que’s experience in a male-dominant society is shown by her bond with her brother, a manipulative communist cadre, ‘“He’s my brother. You can’t deny blood ties.” She wiped her nose and eyes.’ The imagery of her weeping combined with the finality of her resolution to submit to her brother highlights the irony of their one-sided relationship. Moreover, Hang’s inner thoughts allow readers to sympathise with her arduous family obligations, much like Lily’s natal family obligations. The parallels between Hang and Lily lie in their loving relationships and their distinctions lie in them being spousal or familial. Hang and Lily also diverge in their acceptance of their respective Confucianism-adopting societies’ values. Lily conforms to these ideals to advance as a young wife whereas Hang rejects them to flourish without her family. Thus it can be perceived that Huong and See both depict their protagonists in communities with traditional