Four Major Plays Of Chikamatsu (four Major Plays By Chikamatsu) [plot Summaries]

FOUR MAJOR PLAYS OF CHIKAMATSU the lavish dowry the uncle provided, some two kamme (a unit of measure for silver. Two kamme would be a significant amount; writing in the 1960s, Donald Keene stated that two kamme would then be equivalent to $1000). The Love Suicides at Sonezaki The Love Suicides at Sonezaki ( 曾 根 崎 心 中 Sonezaki Shinjū?) is a love-suicide Bunraku play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon. While not his first one (which was probably the puppet play The Soga Successors in 1683) nor his most popular (which would be The Battles of Coxinga), it is probably the most popular of his "domestic tragedies" or "domestic plays" (sewamono) as Donald Keene characterizes the non-historical plays. This agreement remains wholly unknown to Tokubei until his uncle tries to force him into the marriage. Tokubei makes his refusal categorical and absolute this time. The uncle is infuriated. He fires Tokubei from the firm, demands the return of the two kamme which Tokubei does not have, and says he will exile Tokubei from Osaka. Tokubei goes to his village and eventually with the villagers' aid, forces the silver out of his stepmother and returns to Osaka. It was first performed 20 June 1703. It was revived in 1717, with additional scenes added by Chikamatsu, such as the punishment of the villain, but the version typically translated and performed is the 1703 version. On his return, Tokubei is collared by his close friend of many years, "Kuheiji the oil merchant", who tells Tokubei that he desperately needs a loan of two kamme or else he will not be able to meet his monthly bills and will go bankrupt. Plot Scene one Since Tokubei is so kind-hearted and does not actually need to return the two kamme until several days after Kuheiji promises to return the money, he loans it to Kuheiji. The Love Suicides at Sonezaki is a short play in three scenes, staged over a day and a night. The two central characters are a young orphan merchant clerk named Tokubei (whose firm deals in oil or possibly soy) and the courtesan with whom he is in love, Ohatsu. Here Tokubei finishes recounting the events that have taken place before the start of the play. Just as he finishes, none other than the very Kuheiji he was speaking of enters the temple grounds at the head of a band of revelers and rowdies. Tokubei seizes the chance to ask Kuheiji to repay the now-overdue loan. In the first scene, Tokubei and an apprentice to their "firm of Hirano in Uchihon Street" are making the rounds of the firm's customers, delivering their wares and collecting on the bills, when, on the grounds of the Ikutama Shrine (in Osaka), Tokubei encounters his beloved Ohatsu, who berates him for his coldness in not visiting or writing her for some time now, and also for not confiding in her his troubles. Kuheiji flatly denies the existence of any such debt. When Tokubei produces the promissory note Kuheiji had stamped with his seal, Kuheiji dismisses it as an extortion attempt, revealing that before he had stamped the promissory note, he had reported the seal as lost. Moved by her plea, Tokubei tells her everything. The owner of the firm is Tokubei's uncle. Tokubei's scrupulously honest and steady performance has impressed him; he wants Tokubei to marry his wife's niece. Because Tokubei loves Ohatsu, he had tried to politely refuse. The uncle did not relent but continued to try to convince Tokubei to agree to the match. He proposed the match to Tokubei