Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Pillow Book, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Court Life vs. Common Life
Poetry and Social Relationships
Aesthetic Beauty, Delight, and Cultural Tradition
Romance and Official Duty
Summary
Analysis
Sei discusses a pilgrimage to the temple at Kiyomizu over the New Year. One is always intrigued by the sight of monks navigating the steep temple stairs while wearing high clogs. On the other hand, it’s always unpleasant to have to pass in front of a crowd of kneeling pilgrims on the way to one’s room, even as one enjoys the feeling of “freshly kindled faith.” The sight of the sacred image in the glow of fiercely glittering lamps gives one a reverential feeling. There’s a drone of voices as priests present worshippers’ prayers before the altar.
Those at court would have participated in religious pilgrimages. Sei’s descriptions show that such experiences have an aesthetic appeal and sightseeing feel as well. The religious image she describes would have been the Kannon bodhisattva, or Goddess of Mercy.
Themes
Sei describes having a chat with a priest, who informs her that her petitions have been presented to Kannon. She finds it comforting to hear the bell ringing for the sutra recitation, knowing it’s being rung on her behalf, too. It’s also moving to hear a man in an adjacent room, praying and prostrating himself through the night, and occasionally pausing to tearfully blow his nose. Sometimes she overhears a dedication being announced, like “For the safe delivery of her child,” and Sei instinctively worries about the woman who’s being prayed for.
Sei finds genuine comfort in the religious rituals of requesting special prayer at the temple (the prayers of priests at the altar would be understood to have a particular potency), and she feels compassion for the needs of her fellow pilgrims. Again, Sei seems to have the ability to draw pleasure and aesthetic appreciation from a variety of situations.
Themes
At New Year, though, the temple is far more hectic—there’s no hope of paying attention to one’s own prayers amidst the uproar. Monks run around carrying screens to set up temporary rooms. Refined ladies in rustling silks arrive. There’s “a great clamour of sutra chanting” all night long, preventing sleep. Sei has fun trying to guess the identities of various pilgrims. Young men linger near the ladies’ quarters, showing no interest in visiting the sacred image.
At festival times, the tourist aspect of temple life can easily overwhelm the religious side. From Sei’s description, it seems that courtiers and other officials were more concerned with dressing up, preparing the palace, and flirting amongst themselves than with praying.
Themes
Another good time for a temple pilgrimage is when the spring blossoms are at their peak, when people’s clothes are in the most attractive colors. It’s always best to go on pilgrimage with peers with whom one can discuss everything one is experiencing.
Sei recognizes that the natural environment has an impact on the beauty and delight one derives from an experience, as does the company and the festival atmosphere of courtiers’ clothes.
Themes
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Sei finds it “deeply irritating” to see a man setting off alone for an event such as the Kamo Festival, as though oblivious that someone else might have liked to go with him. It’s also irritating when there’s rain on the day one is supposed to set out on a pilgrimage. “Miserable things” include someone traveling by ox cart on a hot day, an aged beggar, or a dingy wooden shack. This leads to other things which look “stiflingly hot,” like certain costumes or uniforms, or a priest performing incantations at midday in summer.
Sei considers it selfish for a courtier to attend an event without generously bringing others along. This leads her to thoughts on other irritations of travel, and then to thoughts of the unpleasantness of heat in general—a typical stream of consciousness found in her diary. In this way, Sei is able to connect otherwise disparate observations and experiences by distilling them down to the emotions and aesthetic qualities they have in common.
Themes
Sei has a lot of opinions about “embarrassing things.” They include “the heart of a man” and a night-priest who is a light sleeper. In fact, she finds night-priests embarrassing in general, because she thinks they enjoy listening to gentlewomen’s gossip.
This category seems to focus on things that are embarrassing because they expose what’s hidden. For instance, Sei suggests that the a man’s heart is embarrassing because of its ability to see into a woman’s heart.
Themes
Sei is also embarrassed for any woman who’s taken in by a man who flatters her, but who is privately disdainful of her faults. There are also men who openly discuss a woman’s faults with other women, and the other women never suspect that they’re being slandered in the same way. Sei assumes that any man who has feelings for her is probably shallow-hearted—that way she won’t open herself up to embarrassment. There are also men who take advantage of unprotected women at court, then reject them if they become pregnant.
Sei is aware of the many pitfalls of romantic relationships in court, as well as the joys. She tries to guard herself against humiliation and blames other women who aren’t similarly vigilant. Women have to take such special care for their reputation because in many ways, they’re more vulnerable than men within court culture.
Themes
