The Pillow Book Section 33 Summary & Analysis

On a hot summer night, a lady is lying asleep after her lover’s departure. Under her shift, the strings of her scarlet trousers are still untied, trailing beneath the hem of her clothes; her luxuriant hair is piled beside her. Nearby, a gentleman is walking home from his “escapade” that night, thinking about the “next-morning” letter he will have to send.

This is an imaginary scene which is written in the style of popular romances during the Heian period. Sei occasionally includes short, suggestive scenes like this one which were perhaps meant to be developed into longer tales. Although Sei’s diary was written over 1,000 years ago, it’s clear that having romantic “escapades” was a common (if not socially acceptable) aspect of Japanese society.

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He stops when he notices the open shutter of the woman’s room and lifts the blind to peek inside, wondering about the man who must have recently left her side. The woman wakes and sees him, and they engage in quiet banter as the sky lightens. Eventually, the man leaves to write his letter, while the woman’s lover has already sent his—in fact, a messenger is hovering nearby, awkwardly waiting to deliver it. The visiting man wonders if his own lover received a similar dawn visit.

During this time, it was expected that a male lover would send a romantic letter, often containing a poem, to the woman after they spent a night together. There’s a comic element to this scene, as the man and woman engage in mild flirtation instead of paying attention to the letters they’re supposed to write and receive the next morning.

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The Pillow Book

Sei Shonagon

The Pillow Book: Section 33 Summary & Analysis