Du Tenth Sinks The Jewel Box In Anger Summary

In the story “Du Tenth Sinks the Jewel Box in Anger” by Feng Menglong, courtesans appeared to be kept imprisoned and generally wanting to escape the life of prostitution. There are several contrasting perceptions of women and their work. Often times prostitution can be viewed as a practice of unclean or even immoral activates but in this story, prostitution displays a much more positive illustration than in most other stories. Men and women such as Li Jia, Sung Fu, and madam portrayed these women as inferior and as seen, Du Tenth had been just another commodity to them. By contrast, the author appears to show an alternate side of courtesans, as women of worthiness opposed to what most people assumed they already knew about the life of courtesans.

These women struggling against misogyny. In the eyes of the world they only see prostitutes as women who sleep with men for money but individuals don’t realize that these courtesans are living in a period where women had no independence. Courtesans like Du Tenth had to create a reputation for themselves, and gain wealth in order to escape because they do not have the freedom to buy themselves independence. Madam said, “In our profession we rely on our guest for both food and clothing” (FengMengLong 501). Madam is saying that prostitution is a way of survival. These women are expected to rely on men to support their everyday needs. These women end up with the occupation of prostitution because there were not many options for them. They had to rely on the support of a man, whether it is their own father or husband, but in this situation, they depend on their customers. Du Tenths life situation can be seen as pessimistic because Du Tenth has to keep trading one dependency for another. She is seen as always being forced to depend on someone because she not her own person. When Du was finally free from Madam and no longer need to depend on customers, but since Li Jia has purchased her she has to depend on Li Jia. Li Jia tells Du Tenth, “With the thousand taels I will have a pretext on which to call on my parents, and you, my dear will have someone to rely

Li Jia described Du Tenth as “High-toned allure from head to toe; every inch coy scent ”(500). She is viewed as an extremely attractive and alluring woman is represented only by the way she looks. What they don’t say is that she’s intelligent, loyal, and considerate. The author shows that even though prostitution works in a dirty profession they should be judged on what they are in the inside. From the beginning, Li Jia was awful with money, but each time they were low on money Du Tenth gives him money. Li Jia was so concerned by the thought of letting his father down by being with a prostitute, but in the end, Li Jia lets Du Tenth down by trading her. As time went on Du knew her worth a lot more than a thousand taels. She felt betrayed because the money and jewels that Du Tenth was carrying with her was worth ten times the amount he was trying to trade her for. He did not realize her intelligence, what she had planned was to build him up so that he can get back on his father good side. That she wasn’t just someone you could trade. Li and Sun came from upper class, wealthy and elegant but at the same time they are selfish and discriminate against women. On the other hand, Du Tenth came from lower class and has a shameful job, but she was braver than either of them. This just shows that people shouldn’t judge people by their class. As one can see, not only