兼先恵子かねさき けいこ

会員

「悲愁」―源氏物語・幻の帖―

作家のことば

　紫の上の死の翌年一年間の源氏の哀傷の日々。母桐壺更衣、密通した義母藤壺とその面影を宿す紫の上と源氏の生を支えてきた母性の終宴の帖です。源氏の女性遍歴をじっと耐え、妻と認められる事もなく一生を終えた紫の上を送り、出家を決意し物語から退場する彼の花道の演出に、夢幻のような一生の淋しさを感じる帖です。

The year of Genji's mourning following the death of Murasaki no Ue. This chapter marks the end of the maternal figures who supported Genji's life: his mother, Kiritsubo Kōi; and Fujitsubo, his stepmother with whom he committed adultery, and whose likeness Murasaki no Ue bore. Sending off Murasaki no Ue, who quietly endured Genji's affairs and died without ever being fully recognized as his wife, he resolves to enter the priesthood and exits the narrative—a finale that suggests the loneliness of a phantom-like life.