Criminals, gamblers, prostitutes, dwarfs, hunchbacks, transvestites, magicians, rebellious students, and itinerant actors were characters in his life and his work. Both outrage and acclaim were heaped on Terayama's intensely poetic, highly theatrical, often shocking plays. Female representation is informed by fear and longing. Seductive females torment innocent boys, driving them to violence or madness. Loving mothers become suffocating old hags clinging to their son's backs.
Gender confusion intensifies the dilemma.
Analyzed in detailed are Inugami , The Hunchback of Aomori , La Marie Vison , and Jashumon . References to kabuki, noh, and traditional literature demonstrate cultural continuity. Western feminist and psychoanalytic theories are somewhat misleading when applied to Japan. Rather, effective interpretation derives from culturally appropriate theory. Onnagata gender performance is ambiguous, transformative, and disrupts the sociocultural prescriptions for gender roles of the Edo period.