Analyses of Love in a Fallen City and the Golden Cangue

For the bulk of the mid- to late-20th Century, Eileen Changs name and literary prowess fell into obscurity as a result of horizontalts related to the Cultural whirling and her accept reclusion. In C. T. Hsias A History of Modern Chinese Fiction, he praised Chang for her use of rich imagery and profound exploration of human nature. In his book, he also claimed Chang to be the best and most important writer of mid-twentieth ascorbic acid China. Hsias remarks and Ang Lees film adaptation of her novella, Lust, Caution, have helped to catch Changs name back onto the literary scene.Two of her most well-known and highly praised novellas are Love in a F eachen City and The specious Cangue. On the surface, the stories describe the details of family activities, hunch over relationships, and marriages that occupy mundane life in places like move and Hong Kong, but beneath the simple plot lines, the stories exist the dis stagees of strong-willed women within the family arena during a tumultuous time of change in China. Love in a Fallen City is a slam story between a divorcee, Bai Liusu, and a playboy businessman, Fan Liuyuan.As a divorcee, Liusu is strained to return to her fathers home where she is an unwelcome patch and an added economic burden. In a turn of events, the man, Fan Liuyuan, who was supposed to be her nieces suitor, chooses her over the niece, exacerbating her situation at home. With nothing to lose, she follows Fan to Hong Kong where their delight in blossoms amidst the beginnings of the Japanese occupation of the city. The Golden Cangue follows the story of Cao Qiqiao, a widow who lives in anguish as a powerless little girl-in-law in a wealthy family.She was forced into an arranged marriage with a sickly man and treated poorly by her husbands family. After the close of her husband, she gains independence and a teensy-weensy amount of wealth, but by and by historic period of torment, she turns her own repressed crossness towards her ch ildren. The two stories share similar sentiments in that they depict the different struggles of women in the family setting. For Liusu, her struggle was to gain the acceptance of her family and love and affection from Liuyuan. In Qiqiaos case, her struggle was her search for an escape from her tyrannous family life.Eileen Changs use dialogue supplys the strength of the women and her descriptions within the stories help to depict the inner turmoil each adult female faces. The story of Love in Fallen City starts in the household of the Bai family. News concerning the death of Bai Liusus ex-husband arrives from a family acquaintance. The news stirs up the issue of whether or not Liusu should return to her late ex-husbands home for mourning, as driven by traditional family values. The possibility that her family would send her back to her in-laws infuriates her but she still remains composed.While she is in the weaker position in terms of family hierarchy, she holds the power in di alogue because of her sharp tongue Liusu had now reached the height of fury, but she simply laughed. Yes, yes, everything is my fracture. Youre poor? Its because Ive eaten you break through of house and home. Youve lost your heavy(p)? It must be that Ive led you on. Your sons fit? Ive done it to you, Ive ruined your fate. (Chang, 114) While obviously upset, she remains composed. Rather than allow her emotions to show physically, she translates those emotions into lecture.Liusus sharp retorts are common throughout the book and they show the strength of her character. She does not allow herself to fetch the victim and she responds with dagger-like words that show her anger and disappointment. The position Liusu finds herself in is a result of her familys lack of concern for her general wellbeing and happiness. As one of the younger female members of the family, she holds no power. Everything in her life happened because her family dictated her fate. She never had a choice in whi ch direction she should take her life and she has become embittered because of her lack of independence.When she meets Fan Liuyuan, she takes her chances and follows him to Hong Kong. Her decision to leave Shanghai has two implications. Firstly, she wants an escape from her family. After years of following their rules and hearing their complaints about her presence, she finally has a chance to leave it all behind to find her own independence. Secondly, she is strangely attracted to Liuyuan and securing his love and attention is a conquest for her. After leaving Shanghai, Liusu stays in a hotel in Hong Kong and spends more and more time with Liuyuan. The two of them develop a relationship but their intentions are different.For Liusu, getting close to Liuyuan was a way for her to leave the Bai family. Liuyuan, on the opposite hand is seeking weird love. He professes his love for her on many occasions, but she rejects him each time. Her goal in being in a relationship with Liuyuan i s to have security and Liuyuans words hold no meaning to her, but instead are examples of his playboy behavior Liusu was silent for a while, but finally she burst out Why not go ahead and just say, flat out, that you dont want to marry me, and leave it at that Why beat approximately the bush, with all this talk of not being able to decide things?Even a conservative person like me substructure say, First marriage for the family, bet on marriage for oneself. If someone as free and unburdened as you are cant decide for himself, then who can decide for you? (Chang, 149) In her have words of Liuyuan, Liusu states her views of marriage which are defined by her real life experiences. Her first marriage was an arranged marriage that was to the benefit of her family, but for her second marriage she wants it to be for herself. She is seeking stability in her life and she does not think Liuyuan is apt to fill that void.As practically as she is attracted to him, she cannot see past his p layboy charm. Her defenses and words show how she is strong-willed and determined to make right what went wrong in her life. Throughout the novel, Fan Liuyuan expresses his love to Liusu. He claims she is a real Chinese adult female and continues on to say, Real Chinese women are the worlds most beautiful women. Theyre never out of fashion. (Chang, 135) Liuyuan loves Liusu and thinks of her as the ideal Chinese woman, stock-still he worries that she is part of the trap of Chinese culture that wants him only for a convenient marriage.Therefore, he tries to take her away from China to Hong Kong the colony he even considers taking her to Malaysia and Africa, to primitive lands. By attempting to remove her from her native home, he is essentially taking away her power over him. He wants to force her into the spiritual love that he wants, undermining her position as a strong woman. In the end, the marriage does go through, but only because the war forced the two of them together. The t wo flock both have selfish tendencies and neither could have been together in any other situation Hong Kongs efeat had brought Liusu victory. But in this unreasonable world, who can distinguish cause from effect? Who knows which is which? Did a great city fall so that she could be vindicated? Countless thousands of people dead, countless thousands of people suffering, after that an earthshaking revolution Liusu didnt feel there was anything subtle about her place in history. She stood up, smiling, and kicked the pan of mosquito-repellent incense under the table. Those legendary beauties who felled cities and kingdoms were probably all like that. (Chang, 167)Because of all that she had to go through, she likens herself to other strong women in history who brought down cities and kingdoms. She secured her place in the world by overcoming all the obstacles that were presented to her. She managed to leave her oppressive family and find a second husband who will accept her as she is. Ac hieving her goals at the end validates her as a strong Chinese woman. The Golden Cangue presents a different story about a woman and her struggles with her family. Similar to Liusu, Cao Qiqiao is stuck in an unhappy family situation.As a daughter from a poor family, she was married kill to the son of a wealthy family. In her husbands family, she suffers from ridicule and repression. As time progresses, she slowly loses her mind because of all that she has had to endure within the family. When she finally gains some independence, she completely loses all sanity and takes out her pent up anger on her daughter and daughter-in-law. Qiqiao, in many respects, is a strong woman. She had to put up with constant ridicule from her husbands family and she had no independence. Her resilience is characterized in her attitude and actions towards her family.As a daughter-in-law, she suffered at the hands of her husbands family, once she becomes a mother-in-law she perpetuates this cycle of tormen t and directs her bitterness towards her own children and daughter-in-law. In one instance, she believes her daughters feet need to be bound in recount to attract suitors As she looked at them her feet, something occurred to her and she said with a cynical laugh, You may say yes but how do I know if youre sensible or silly at heart? Youre this big already, and with a pair of big feet, where cant you go?Even if I could control you, I wouldnt have the energy to watch you all day long. Actually at thirteen its already too late for foot binding, it is my fault not to have seen to it earlier. Well start right now, theres still time. (Chang, 208) Qiqiao has reached a point where she lacks reasoning. All of her thoughts are convoluted and in her mind she has positive(p) herself that torturing her own children will be for their benefit. She is lost in her own misery because of the restraints fixed on her by her husbands family. She understands that her daughter has much more freedom tha n she did when she was younger.The actual decision to bind her daughters feet seemingly comes as a result of jealousy. Since she had to suffer, so should her children. What makes Qiqiao a strong woman is her lucid insanity. She calculates and plots every action to her own benefits and pleasure. She understands that money and power run the world, and she does what she can within her means to feel superior over others. So the aureate cangue is a symbol of power and money. She wears the golden cangue as a burden on her conscience and she used it to get whatever she needed For thirty years now she had worn a golden cangue.She had used its heavy edges to chop down several people those that did not die were half killed. She knew that her son and daughter hated her to the death, that the relatives on her husbands side hated her, and that her own kinsfolk also hated her. (Chang 243) The golden cangue tainted her moral being and she had become a much hated person. She was driven by power an d money but in the end, her actions and effort were all for naught. She loses power over her children and she is left to die in her misery. Both characters, Liusu and Qiqiao, were products of their respective environments.The difference in the two women comes in how they take hold of their future. For Liusu, she knew she wanted an escape from her family and she took the reins of her life and got what she want with Liuyuan. Qiqiao on the other hand, attempted to get control of her life, but instead she got caught in the madness of being an opium addict. One woman was able to break free from the social constraints placed on her while the other was not. Qiqiao perpetuates the vicious cycle of family tradition that damaged her in the first place.So while she is strong in the sense that she is work out and conniving, she fails to break the cycle that caused her misery and she is no better than other petty men. The two stories both capture the essence of Eileen Changs works. Through her writing, she was able establish voice to the thoughts of women. She shows a great range in her depiction of women, from the weak to strong, cruel matriarchs. The works give insight into the condition of women during the early 20th century but on a larger scale they also reveal the way in which women are affected by their family life.