Kieu: An Act of Virtue

Kieu: An Act of Virtue

Faten H.

(This essay is an excellent example of topic restriction and organization)

 An Act of Virtue

 In Confucian society, rebellion is THE cardinal sin. (Du, xxxvii). Rebellion against  
 fulfilling an oath or pledge is no exception. It is understood that an oath is a  
 sacred pledge, a pact to fulfill a promise. Breaking such a promise displays a 
 lack of trust. Virtue lies in trust and fulfilling one s promises. However, virtue 
 has never been a black and white issue. In THE TALE OF KIEU, Kieu's initial 
 refusal to betroth Kim, and her later acceptance, is an act of virtue. I say this 
 because although it was an attempt to break a pledge, it was done for unselfish 
 reasons. Furthermore, Kieu exhibited a tremendous amount of honesty and 
 acknowledged her own mistakes. Lastly, her reluctant submission showed 
 compromise, and again placing others' wishes above her own.

 One may look at Kieu's action as an act of breaking a pledge, and hence not a  
 virtuous act. She refuses to wed the man whom she pledged her undying 
 devotion to. In the beginning of the poem, Kim professes his love and says, Let's  
 pledge our troth with something (line 341). Kieu's heart softens to Kim and 
 replies, 

 To your kind bosom you have taken me / 
 I'll etch your word, our troth, in stone and bronze (line 352). 

 Here, stone and bronze refers to faithfulness, loyalty, strength of conviction,  
 firmness of purpose, etc (Notes 178). Such strong words lend even more  
 commitment to her pledge. The two young lovers exchange gifts to further  
 solidify their unbreakable promise. In their subsequent visit, Kim is overwhelmed 
 with lust and attempts to pursue Kieu. The young woman quickly steps back and  
 warns Kim of betraying a lifelong trust, and reminds him of her obligation to  
 place chastity above all else. She then consoles her lover: While I'm alive, you'll 
 sometime get your due (line 522). This reconfirms her promise and pledge to  
 Kim. As long as Kieu is alive, she has full intention of fulfilling that pledge. Fifteen 
 years later, despite the mutual love they have for each other, Kieu now tries to  
 break that pledge. Kim, the man who has longed for her love for so long, is now 
 rejected. How can such a pledge be pushed aside? NICE PARA

 Despite the fact that Kieu wanted to break the pledge, she did it for unselfish  
 reasons. She was thinking of Kim, and not herself. Guilty and ashamed of her 
 past, she did not want to soil Kim's future. 

 We once did pledge our troth, but since those days,/ 
 my life has been exposed to wind and rain (line 3079-3080). 

 Referring to her previous marriages and her profession as a prostitute, she 
 admits to her first love that she has led a promiscuous life even if it was out of 
 her hands and forced upon her. 

 But I believe/ 
 that to her man a bride should bring the scent of a close bud, and the shape of a 
 full moon./ 
 Its priceless chastity by nuptial torch,/
 am I to blush for what I'll offer you? (line 3092-3096). 

 She no longer sees herself worthy of Kim s love. She sees herself as soiled and 
 dirty, and that her chastity is gone. Although her heart may yearn for Kim, she 
 feels that she can no longer offer him a virtuous wife. 

 The fact that Kieu recognizes her own faults, and the honesty in which she 
 discusses the matter with Kim is another reason that makes her initial refusal a  
 virtuous one. She is honest about her lifestyle (although she did not go into 
 detail) and made no attempt to hide what she felt that Kim should know. What 
 motivated such honesty? Who was she accountable to? She could have easily 
 capitalized on the situation, and lied about her lifestyle, but she chose not to. 
 Is this not an act of virtue in and of itself? She understood that her activity in the 
 brothel was not commendable. 

 Misfortune struck me since that day the flower/ 
 fell prey to bees and butterflies, ate shame (line 3097-3098). 

 Her willingness to take responsibility for her actions is shown by her refusal to 
 marry Kim. She is consciously denying herself of what she has wanted for so 
 long. She also wants to avoid any hypocrisy.

 How dare I, boldfaced, soil with worldly filth/ 
 the homespun costume of a virtuous wife? (line 3103-3104) 

 Kieu does not want to put on a costume to cover up her actions, her filth. She 
 would rather spare Kim from this.

 Lastly, Kieu's ability to compromise and eventually agree to marrying Kim
 further proves the virtuousness of such an act. Kieu's sister and Kim s wife, 
 Van, is the first person to urge Kieu to fulfill her pledge: ... 

 the peach stays fresh its time to tie the knot! (line 3076) 

 Kieu of course refuses for the reasons explained above. Kim begs her otherwise:

 Whatever you may feel, your oath remains. A vow of troth is witnessed by the  
 world (line 3084-3085). 

 He reminds her of the pledge, that unbreakable oath she made 15 years earlier,  
 and later says ... 

 sworn pledges must be kept in life or death (line 3088). 

 Kieu is strong in her resistance and pleads for friendship over husband and wife.

 If you still care for what we both once felt, / 
 lets turn it into friendship let s be friends. / 
 Why speak of marriage with its red silk thread? / 
 It pains my heart and further stains my life (line 3109 3112).

 Kim continues to beg and reminds Kieu that a woman's chastity cannot be  
 restricted to one definition. ... 

 a woman's chastity means many things. / 
 For there are times of ease and times of stress: / 
 in crisis, must one rigid rule apply? (line 3116) 

 After much reluctance, Kieu finally relents to Kim s wishes. Kieu's father's words  
 now fit perfectly into this scene when he said just a few days earlier, 

 Even a saint must bow to circumstance (line 3052).

 Kieu again bows to circumstance, seeing that marriage is what Kim truly desires. 
 Despite her reluctance and her wish to refuse betrothal, she could not deny her  
 love for Kim, albeit not one based on sexual desire.

 Although promises are not meant to be broken, Kieu wanted to break her 
 promise of troth to Kim for unselfish reasons. Her character embodied honesty 
 and recognition of her wrong deeds. Furthermore, eventually fulfilling the pledge 
 shows willingness to compromise and placing other people s feelings and wishes 
 above her own. This all leads to supporting the virtuousness behind Kieu's initial 
 refusal to betroth Kim, and then her later acceptance. The story of Kieu is one  
 that is deeply enveloped with issues of morality and virtue. Although even a saint 
 must bow to circumstance , the question of how far one should bend is crucial 
 and lends itself to critical debate. However, life is like a river, and events flow 
 into each other as one long fluid, and not disjoint drops of water. Similarly, 
 when looking at the decisions Kieu has made, although we may argue that some 
 are immoral that is exactly the point SOME are immoral. On the other hand, 
 some decisions sprout out of a person like rays of light, and their virtue cannot 
 be denied, regardless of past decisions. This is such a case.

 Works Cited

 Du, Nguyen. THE TALE OF KIEU, trans. Huynh Sanh Thong. Yale: Yale University  
 Press, 1983.

 Konishi, Yoko; Yuan, Xia; Dandrea, Jarrod; Yu, Tsung Li; and Dhaliwal, 
 Sandeep.  
 Peer Editors. Online collaboration.

 -- Faten H.