PART II: (Chs 34-41) Decline and the End of Genji’s World

Tale Of Genji

Dec 3

Genji’s authority begins to fracture through betrayal, sexual violence, illness, and death. The violation of the Third Princess and Murasaki’s prolonged suffering expose the moral limits of Genji’s control. Murasaki’s death marks a decisive turning point, transforming the narrative into one shaped by grief, memory, and spiritual unease.

34. Spring Shoots, Part One (Wakana jō)
The aging Retired Suzaku Emperor, anxious about the future of his sheltered daughter, the Third Princess, presses Genji to take her as his wife. Genji agrees reluctantly, aware of the girl’s immaturity and of the wound this marriage will inflict on Murasaki. Though devastated, Murasaki conceals her grief. Publicly, Genji’s fortunes appear unmatched: he celebrates his fortieth year, and his Akashi daughter—now married to the crown prince—gives birth to a son, Prince Niou. Privately, fractures deepen. Murasaki falls ill and retreats to the Nijō Mansion with Genji. During Genji’s absence from the Rokujō estate, Kashiwagi, son of Tō no Chūjō, glimpses the Third Princess when her cat escapes onto the verandah, igniting a dangerous obsession.

Key points

Political obligation overrides emotional loyalty
Murasaki’s suffering is hidden rather than acknowledged
Genji’s public glory contrasts with private decay
A chance glimpse sets future catastrophe in motion

35. Spring Shoots, Part Two (Wakana ge)
Kashiwagi’s fixation intensifies; he borrows the Third Princess’s cat, treasuring it as a token of forbidden desire. Meanwhile, Murasaki—beloved and admired—feels an increasing pull toward renunciation, longing to take vows and withdraw from the world. Genji refuses to permit it. At a grand concert for the emperor, harmony is staged but fragile. Murasaki falls gravely ill and appears to die, revived only after an exorcism expels the possessing spirit of the Rokujō lady. During this crisis, Kashiwagi violates the Third Princess. When her pregnancy is revealed, Genji learns the truth. Kashiwagi collapses under the weight of guilt and fear.

Key points

Obsession replaces restraint
Murasaki’s spiritual longing is denied
Past jealousy returns through possession
Sexual transgression shatters Genji’s household

36. The Oak Tree (Kashiwagi)
The Third Princess gives birth to a son, Kaoru, whom the world assumes to be Genji’s. Soon after, she renounces secular life and becomes a nun. Kashiwagi, consumed by remorse and illness, dies young. The chapter is spare and devastating, marking the quiet collapse of Genji’s authority over lineage, desire, and consequence.

Key points

Illicit paternity becomes a public fiction
Religious retreat follows sexual violation
Kashiwagi’s death closes a generational arc
Moral order is maintained only through silence

37. The Flute (Yokobue)
Yūgiri inherits Kashiwagi’s flute, an object heavy with memory, and dreams of his dead friend. He grows close to Kashiwagi’s widow, the Second Princess, provoking jealousy in his wife Kumoinokari, who struggles with exhaustion and childcare. As Genji plays with his grandchildren, Yūgiri notices how Kaoru stands apart—grave, watchful, and different—already marked by an unspoken inheritance.

Key points

Objects carry grief and memory
Friendship persists beyond death
Marital strain mirrors earlier generational conflicts
Kaoru emerges as a figure of difference

38. The Bell Cricket (Suzumushi)
The Third Princess dedicates a chapel, and Genji reshapes her garden into a moor, releasing bell crickets whose fragile songs echo impermanence. Empress Akikonomu, daughter of the Rokujō lady, is haunted by a sense of inherited sin and unresolved maternal legacy. The chapter lingers on atmosphere, ritual, and the persistence of the past within the present.

Key points

Landscape becomes an expression of mourning
Sound replaces spectacle
Spiritual inheritance weighs on the next generation
The Rokujō legacy continues indirectly

39. Evening Mist (Yūgiri)
Yūgiri attempts to pursue the Second Princess under the guise of filial respect, but his advances horrify her. Determined, he forces her back to the capital and prepares a residence for her as his mistress. She responds with fear, hiding from him whenever he visits. Kumoinokari, humiliated and distressed, returns to her father’s home. Yūgiri succeeds only in destroying both relationships, revealing his emotional immaturity and coercive entitlement.

Key points

Desire is masked as duty
Female resistance is met with force
Domestic harmony collapses
Yūgiri repeats Genji’s failures without his charm

40. The Law (Minori)
Though she recovers briefly, Murasaki’s strength fades. Genji still refuses her wish to take vows, clinging to her presence even as death approaches. Sutras are read, grandchildren gather, and the Akashi Empress visits, confirming the gravity of the moment. In death, Murasaki’s beauty is undiminished. Only then does Genji permit Yūgiri to see her—granting in death what he denied in life. Genji’s spirit breaks, and he enters mourning emptied of purpose.

Key points

Spiritual autonomy is denied until death
Ritual replaces intimacy
Murasaki’s death ends Genji’s emotional center
Mourning signals the collapse of desire

41. The Seer (Maboroshi)
Genji wanders through a world emptied of meaning, haunted by Murasaki’s absence. Visiting the Third Princess, he resents her spiritual progress, unable either to renounce life or to fully inhabit it. In autumn, watching the wild geese, he composes a poem longing for a guide who might reach the unseen beloved even beyond dreams. Desire, memory, and loss converge in a final, unresolved vision.

Key points