A RECORD OF SORROWFUL DAYS

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A Record of Sorrowful Days
1. Between her own family and the royal family, which one do you think the princess was more concerned about?
According to the narrative, it is evident that the daughter was more concerned about her family than the royal family. Her father had suggested that she should take part in the selection, but they were a low-income family it was not easy for her to get a new wardrobe made (Hyegyǒng 238). When she went back home after the second sitting, she clung to her parents and could not fight back the tears. From that day her parents and the clan elders started using honorific expressions on her which made her feel sad and uncomfortable (Hyegyǒng 239). Words of advice from his great-great-uncle made her miserable as well, meaning she preferred being with her family and not going to the palace. As the third sitting approached, her grief became even more unbearable, and she slept in her mother’s arms each day.
The narrative states that her father’s sisters and the sisters-in-law tried comforting her while her parents lost several nights’ sleep (Hyegyǒng 240). Remembering the events of the final days chokes her heart. Her mother loved her very much and had promised to make her a skirt which she did before the third sitting. Her mother’s love for her made her grief and dissolved in tears when she wore it (Hyegyǒng 241). She felt terrible when people she was close to started treating her differently because of her acquired status.

2. Is the princess a beneficiary or a victim of the Confucian society?
The princess was a beneficiary of the Confucian society since the queen and king appeared to have loved on her first sitting. The queen described her as young and kind, and affirmed that they had made the right choice. Becoming a princess immediately made her family win royal favors, and her family would no longer be poor. She was a descendant of a princess since her great-great-grandfather had married a princess.
Work Cited
Princess Hyegyǒng. “A Record of Sorrowful Days,” translated by Peter H. Lee. In Anthology of Korean Literature: From Early Times to the Nineteenth Century, edited by Peter H. Lee. Honolulu: University Press of Hawai’i, 1981. p. 237–244.