This was due to her amazing editingДЄbilities, another aspect of literature that was rarely practiced with such Was the first to combine such well written, three dimensional characters, The novel, literature was restricted to poems and books like diaries. This kind of literature was unheard of before this time. Murasaki wrote her novel, the first of its kind, while she was serving She did find a friend in the ladies of the court, though, and even the empress considered her a friend, learning Chinese from her in secret (Maki, 1940). Her cleverness and intelligence also made it hard for her to make friends, as she tended to drive them off with her personality. She was clever and intelligent, but during this time, it was not socially acceptable for a woman to be writing in Chinese. Murasaki tended to hide her ability to write in Chinese, however. While her father was disappointed, saying вЂњIf only you were a boy, how happy I should be,вЂќ he allowed her to study with him, learning not only Chinese, but also various subjects such as music, science, and politics (Women in World History). She sat in on her brotherвЂ™s lessons, and quickly picked up the Chinese language. In one instance, Murasaki wrote about how it was not her place to comment on the emperorвЂ™s death (Inge, 1990). Women were expected to be beautiful, but not always to be intelligent, and they were not expected to be educated or be heavily involved in politics. This is how it had always been in the country, and it would not be changed for a long time. Men held a great deal of power, partially due to religions in the area that had a patriarchal basis. Women were at a much lower status than men were during this period. It was seen to be unladylike (Tyler, 2006). Women who tried to learn the Chinese language were also looked down on, as it was not seen as a womanвЂ™s place to learn the language of scholars and men. Poems, usually written by men, were written in Chinese, as the womenвЂ™s language, like the women during this time, was looked down upon. There were many cases, though, where Japanese women could not read at all. This womenвЂ™s language would be the basis for the Japanese language. Boys were taught their Chinese characters as well as other subjects, while girls were taught a simpler, easier language based on the sounds that the characters made, and skipped over the subjects their brothers learned. Writing, for whom, as well as the other ladies of the court, she wrote The TaleДuring the Heian period of Japan, as was true for much of the history of Japan, boys and girls were educated differently. This, she was called to serve Empress Akiko due to her great ability in She was widowed within two years, however. InД©98, Murasaki was married to Fujiwara no Nabutaka and gave birth to a daughter Was not only a woman, but took to her studies much easier than his son did. As a scholar himself, heД®ncouraged her in her studies, though he was a bit reluctant at first, as she The provinces of Harima, Echizen, and Echigo. Great amount of power in 10th and 11th century japan, serving as governor in

Instead, it was a nickname given to her by her friends in the court ShikibuД¬oming from the position her father held and Murasaki coming from the popularД¬haracter in her novel (Tyler, 2006). The woman we know as Murasaki Shikibu was born around 978 in what is Murasaki transcended this cultural belief, however, by writing her novel, The Tale of Genji. Women were not given the same education men were, as they were expected to be beautiful, not well educated. This was a feat in and of itself, as not only did she write what is believed to be the first novel, but she did it in a culture where women were not allowed to learn the script that men wrote in during this time. But where did this form of literature originate? Who wrote the first novel? Many believe that Murasaki Shikibu, a lady of the court in early 11th century Japan, penned the first novel. Novels, like those in the Harry Potter series, are read by many across the globe and are widely regarded as a pinnacle of todayвЂ™s culture. Books, especially novels, play an important part in the world.

Lady murasaki shikibu