Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-23
THE REAL GEISHA,
Few OccidentaIs Know Her charac-
teristics or Have Met Her.

The difference between man.
theories as to what a woman ought tc
be and the qualities which do in reality
attract him 10 the opposite sex is no.
where more strikingly illustrated al
the present day than in Japan. There
as in ancient Athens, the theory has
produced one class of women and the
practice an entirely different one; a
phenomenon which is Interestingly dis
cussed in a recent number of the
"Ninteenth Century" by Reginald j.
Ferrer.
"A gentle, immemorial vacuity is the
finest qualification for the position of
wifehoOd in Japan" says Mr.. Ferrer
"A typically good Japanese wife is
one after the heart of Pericles. of
whom the least possible is heard, either
at home or abroad. Her duties are
housekeeping, son bearing and smil-
ing silence. Her position, her oppor-
tunities, her previous training, combine
to forbid her any brilliancy of thought
or utterance. She has learnt little. and
cultivated no conversation, having no
need. She is typically good woman,
necessary, but unnoticed. The result
is that her husband is trained an atti-
tude Of half unconscious but dominant
contempt. He becomes selfish and
fretful. Patient Greselda pals upon
him. bores, exasperates. She is so good
ana sweet, and. like SO many of the
good and sweet, so unsatisfying, so
inadequate, so null. And the japanese
brain is full of quick movements and
ardent appetites. 1t may be imagined
how the man grows disdainfully to
ignore his gentle saint at home The
wife belongs to the one class to whom
mental charms are not permitted.
Japan has produced many female poets
and authors-two. indeed, who stand
near the worlds front rank, Murasaki
and Sci Shonagon. But all these have
been. at least officially, maidens or
married unhappily, or ladies of gilt
tering, Bohemian ways.
ITO the married woman alone is for
hidden that swift briliance of mind
which so clearly marks the Japanese
temperament at gravest or at gayest.
And thus she is deprived of the strong
est chain by which a woman can hold
the allegiance of a man through the
long years Of marriage. Her husband
Games to look upon her as dull thing.
to be kept honorably safe, but ignored.
Meanwhile he pines for intellectual
company and relaxation, and this he
seeks in special class that arose long
ago to satisfy just this very need crea-
ted by the Japanese social system of
choiceless marriage
The women of this class are called
Geishas and though the word has become
a familiar one on Western lipe Mr. Ferrer
says that the real Geisha is practically
unknown. for this reason. that no decent
teahouses admits foreigners except on thc
most influential recommendation. and the
really famous Geisha is too great to
august Of imperial command
Degradation. the article continues. has
attended upon the profession of the |
Greisha as was also the case in Athens. |
nut originally she was a companion |
still in theory the minister of purely in |
tellectual pleasures: She is a. woman
to attract; perfected from her |
childhood in all the intricacies of Japan |
csc literature: practised in wit and re-
partee; Injured to the rapid give and take |
of conversation on every topic, human |
Is broken in to an inviolable charm Of
manner incomprehensible to the finest |
European, yea she Is almost invariably a
blossom of the lowest classes. with dumpy |
Claws, ana squat ugly nails. Her educa-
ton, physical and moral, is far harder
than that of the ballerina, and her success
Is achieved only after years of struggle
md bitter agony Of torture.
Her voice Is broken by an incredible tor
ment Of midnight exposure to the low,
iull tone required by Japanese taste, and
her dances. which are such joy to the
spectators are torment to the dancer.
The social position of the Geisha Mr.
Ferrer compares to that of an actress in
Europe and America. The Geisha house
has prizes as desirable as any of the
Western stage. A great Geisha with
twenty mobiles sitting round her contend
ng for her laughter and kept in constant
check by the flashing bodkin of her wit
,olds position no less high and famous
than that of Sarah Bernhard In her
prime. She is equally sought, equally
quite as madly adored. that
luiet little elderly plain girl In bull blue.
But she is prized thus primarily for her
ongue, whose power only ripens fully as
her physical charms decline. She de-
hands vast sums for her owners. and
wen SO often appears and dances only at
Ter own pleasure.
Finally she may, and frequently does,
marry into exalted places. into celestial
circles and sometimes on to the very
steps of the throne itself. Many are the
ad tales of Geisha's love, and many,
hough fewer, the tales that are not sad.
Alone among the women of her race she
8 free and her heart has room to grow.
l