An Analysis of the Image of Yukiko in The Makioka Sisters

Abstract

—Japanese aesthetic novelist Junichiro Tanizaki's novel The Makioka Sisters , takes the protagonist — Yukiko 's blind dates as the main clue to describe the story of the famous Osaka family called Makioka in the period of the Second World War. The novel portrays four distinct female characters-Tsuruko, Sachiko, Yukiko, and Taeko. This paper hopes to make a brief analysis of Yukiko's image through the interpretation of the original text. Yukiko is a shy, traditional Japanese female, who is always favored by the people around her. In everyone's mind, Yukiko is the representative of beauty and purity. The author Junichiro Tanizaki also praises this kind of female image and classical beauty. In contrast, her sister Taeko's image is totally different. She deviates from the tradition, and makes a living by herself, falls in love and marries freely. She pursues her own happiness. Taeko represents a completely different kind of female thought and interest of life in the new era. On the one hand, Junichiro Tanizaki praises the traditional Japanese classical feminine beauty; on the other hand, he affirms the change of feminine thought when the new era comes.