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 lists various flowering trees, deciding that the best blossoms are those of the red plum. Time of day, or weather conditions—early morning rain, for instance—affect the beauty of various blossoms. So do poetic associations—the orange tree, for example, is associated with the beloved hototogisu bird, which perches in its branches. And while the pear blossom is generally considered to be quite ugly, its prominence in Chinese poetry makes Sei think that the pear tree must have some redeeming value after all.
Sei’s interest in various trees has much to do with their prominence in poetry. Thus, there is a clear connection between what Sei finds “delightful” and the poetic culture of the time. Her diary is not merely a record of her personal observations and pleasures, then, but a means of interacting with the Japanese okashi tradition and imparting it onto future generations.
Themes
Sei lists some ponds, paying particular attention to their names. For instance, she questions the wisdom of naming a pond Waterless, even if it dries up for part of the year. Other ponds, like Sayama and Hara, are associated with certain poems or songs.
As with other natural phenomena, Sei’s listing of ponds isn’t primarily about these geographic locations, but the poetic resonances of their names. As per the okashi tradition, Sei seems to find delight in simply appreciating the aesthetic beauty of sights and sounds.
Themes
Of the seasonal palace festivals, Sei especially loves the fifth month’s, because of the blended scents of sweet flag and wormwood, which both common and courtly people spread on their houses. It’s usually a cloudy day, and everything is bedecked with balls of herbs. Lower-class girls go around boasting in their decorated outfits. This is a day for writing and receiving elegant letters, and the hototogisu bird gives its “signature cry.”
For Sei, the excitement of festivals is closely connected to details that stand out memorably from the natural environment—and, of course, the clothing worn and the pieces of writing exchanged. Again, writing is characterized as a way of interacting with one’s culture and engaging in important social customs, while clothing is a means of expressing oneself and “boasting” one’s status, even among the lower classes.
Themes
Some trees have no flowers, but some of these still have special qualities. For example, the camphor tree, with its thick growth, is “quite creepy,” but its “‘thousand branches’ are used in poetry to refer to the thousand tangled feelings of a lover’s heart.” Sei wonders who first came up with that expression. She also wonders who gave the asuwa cypress “such a foolish promise of a name.”
Metaphors from the natural world are ubiquitous in classical poetry. The Japanese name for the asuwa cypress can be interpreted as meaning “tomorrow it will be a cypress,” which explains Sei’s amusement at the “foolish promise.”
Themes
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Sei adds that no matter what type of natural phenomenon is being considered, “I can never be insensible to anything that […] I have heard about and remembered because it moved or fascinated me.”
Sei gives a brief explanation of her okashi sensibility here—she cultivates a sensitivity to whatever “moves” or “fascinates” her, perhaps defending her use of abstract lists (there are over 160 of them in the book).
Themes
Sei also lists many birds and their various qualities. She finds birds that exhibit certain human traits, like the parrot’s mimic, especially touching. The mountain dove’s longing for its mate and the mandarin duck’s tendency to brush frost from its mate’s wings are also endearingly humanlike. The uguisu bird is often mentioned in Chinese poetry, associated with the changing of the year.
Sei pays attention to the various humanlike qualities of birds, perhaps seeing potential in them for later poetic expression. Certain birds are fixtures in the poetic tradition, which suggests that Sei is interested in participating in that aspect of her culture.
Themes
The hototogisu is delightful. During the rainy season, one wakes in the night, determined to be the first to hear it. When one hears it, one’s heart is “utterly transported” by its voice. Sei adds that “everything that cries in the night is wonderful,” except for babies.
Some creatures are so prominent in the poetic tradition that, for example, hearing a certain bird’s song shapes one’s expectation and enjoyment of the season. This indicates just how important poetry and natural aesthetics are to Japanese culture, and therefore sheds light onto Sei’s attention toward what her tradition deems worthy of appreciation.
Themes
Even certain insects are worthy of mention. The snap-beetle, for instance, is apparently a Buddhist, because it bows as if in prayer as it walks. Flies are infuriating, but summer insects have their charms—like when they fly above the book one is reading.
Sei’s descriptions sometimes contain a whimsical note, like her claim about the snap-beetle, while others are more commonplace. This demonstrates Sei’s ability to distill lightheartedness and delight even out of seemingly mundane phenomena—a crucial aspect of okashi.
Themes
Snow falling on common people’s houses, or moonlight shining into such houses, are “unsuitable things.” The same goes for meeting an ox cart led by an auburn-colored ox. Sei also finds it repugnant to see a pregnant woman who is visibly aging, or an old person eating, or a commoner wearing crimson skirted trousers.
Auburn-colored oxen were especially prized by the aristocracy; Sei’s low opinion of such an animal leading a cart implies that she does not approve of revered or beautiful things intermingling with common life. Crimson skirted trousers would have been worn by palace servants but were thought to be inappropriate for commoners, which once again underscores Sei’s disapproval of seeing beautiful or noble things incorporated in common life.
Themes
