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I am inclined to disagree. The author was showing the reality of those times in Asia. An accurate representation would be to show the lack of strong women in society as a result of societal expectations.

Although there are few women in this book, I still feel it lacks strong female characters. I agree that it might be related to Asia's culture then because I have read other historical fictions that featured aot of women.

cristinaro wrote: ↑02 Jan 2021, 07:57 I can think of a few strong women in the novel. For example, Lady Sougyon, daughter of Prince Aansoon, raises her son all by herself, has extended knowledge in various domains, engages in a conversation with the king on different topics, saves her son's life when he falls sick with tuberculosis and comes home more dead than alive, etc. Although only briefly mentioned, Queen Min has a strong personality and becomes fully engaged in politics. Mrs. Seoh is another interesting female character as she has big ambitions for her daughters. There are other hints at the unsung women who followed their partners to another land and supported their independence fight.

True. I wish we knew more about Queen Min, though. And I wish Mrs. Seoh was more vocal about her feelings and opinions. I had hopes for Insoon, Mr. and Mrs. Seoh's daughter, for she had the rebellious streak and had challenged the status quo. But she ends up marrying instead, which I respect as it seems to be her personal choice.

What I'm saying is we could've had better characters than this. I wish we saw the women in the independence movement. I understand that there were "hints" but... what we need is for them to be seen.

Nduthu43 wrote: ↑03 Jan 2021, 07:31 I parttly disagree because it depends what you mean by strong. Lady Sougyon happens to be the mother of Embon who is a main character. Without the birth of Embon we would not have known Hob's story and his estrangement to Lady Sougyon. Besides, the story is mainly from her perspective and therefore I consider her very strong.

What they meant was the story needed more female characters that had the same importance as Embon. Lady Sougyon was there, true. But we could've had women that challenged the status quo as strongly as the men in the story did. We could've met the women from the independence movement. But we didn't.

Now that you've pointed it out, I find it disappointing that there aren't more strong female characters, especially since the author is a woman herself. But if she was aiming for historical accuracy, the aspect that women were never heard and barely seen, then she was successful at that.

I think so too. As much as I feel the book would have benefitted from more strong female characters, as a historical fiction novel, it would not have been accurately representative of the time period the story was set in.

Lady Sougyon is indeed strong in her own way. After all, it takes a strong woman to raise a child by herself, especially in such a male-dominated culture. However, it's obvious that she wasn't strong in terms of making her voice heard, as in the situation where Embon has to decide whether or not he will go to Hokkaido University. He didn't think his mother would be a person that would give a helpful opinion, and he was right, as she basically told him that the decision was his.

Even in today's society (in Asia) women are raised to be docile, not be opinionated, etc. And divorce is not an option to be raised by the woman - for any reason whatsoever. With that in mind, Bradley remains true to the culture by not making any of the females appear strong.

I would have loved to see some strong women in more detail from the revolution because they were briefly mentioned towards the end of the book. However the book was drenched in Korean culture, so I think the author wanted to portray that more because of the storyline.

I believe Lady Sougyon was a strong character given her historical context. However, as you mentioned, this is a historical fiction, so it has to remain within some boundaries. I would have liked to see more women and to develop them further, yet I understand that in this particular context, that would have been unrealistic. Even nowadays, Korean has a lot of issues about this. Maybe in this case, the lack of these strong characters also speaks about the need of change.

The author portrayed the women in historical accuracy along with the what was culturally acceptable at the time. As the book moves forward, readers can see how the younger generation was developing different beliefs and standards. Lady Sougyon displayed many admirable traits that required strength - raising her child (without any resentment toward his father), respect for her parents, politically savvy... I thought she was a strong female character for her time period, country, and cultural influences.

I believe the way that women were represented in this novel was accurate. Embon’s mother is a prime example. She even states that she was uncommon in her ability to communicate with the king because she was more worldly than most women of that time. However, it is important to note the handful of times the author slid in how the women (in their own way) played key roles in the resistance.

I also think that the author wanted to be historically accurate. Those early years women were not involved in active roles in wars or politics.

I think during that time it would be hard for a woman to be in the same position as Embon. As it said in the book, women were housewives, seamstresses, and the caretakers of their husbands. But, I think Lady Sougyon was a strong character in her own right. She's a single mom and always handled herself with dignity, instead of being like the other women in Korea, which showcases that she's a prominent female figure. More could be included, but that might have brought some objection from readers who want the true landscape for women during that time.

I think it might have something to do with the fact that in some Asian countries, women are considered second class citizens. More so during that era, but actually still being followed until now.

Perhaps our perception of important roles might be relative. Perhaps, given their circumstances, all of the female characters portrayed in this novel possessed important roles. I couldn't act as humbly as Lady Sougyon did in her loveless marriage in honor of family and tradition. Neither could I perform the selfless role Mrs. Seoh performed in putting husband, in-laws and guests before self. The author's portrayal of these women in their roles communicated the nobility of the Asian women of that era. It might be unfair for us to conclude that the novel did not feature enough women in important roles as our very ideas of important roles are subjective.