Interpreting the Michiyuki of Sonezaki Shinju: An analysis of the influence of Noh song verses

Abstract

In the final michiyuki (journey scene) of Sonezaki Shinju (1703), Chikamatsu Monzaemon quotes Noh song verses to illuminate Tokube and Ohatsu, the titular suicidal lovers. Aside from the sexual desire, the scene alludes to “aisyo” (deep sorrow toward the mutability of the world), as written in Kadensyo (a record of Noh play).

This paper reexamines the conventional explanatory note of this michiyuki and presents a new interpretation based on an analysis of Noh songs' influence on michiyuki.

Ohatsu and Tokube hear a bell echoing “freedom from desires is true bliss” —a verse from the Noh song Miidera. Miidera's heroine liberated herself from longing for her missing child by gazing at a bright moon, Ohatsu and Tokube, however, see “heartless” clouds and hear the rain, which symbolize sorrow toward the mutability of the world.

Upon seeing the shining Big Dipper, evoking the Noh song Yuya, Ohatsu and Tokube begin considering how miracles preserve love, not life. Tokube compares Umeda Bridge, where they stand, to a bridge of magpies, promising they will become love-stars like the Tanabata legend's lovers. Ohatsu sheds sorrowful tears, praying that they be reborn into “one lotus flower (deliverance from their agonizing attachment by actually being together in paradise).” This again evokes Miidera, with an inverse conclusion.

However, Ohatsu's wish was similar to the merciful Kannon's vow (from the opening scene) that love may form “a bridge to paradise.”