E ASIAN 110 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Dream Of The Red Chamber, Abalone, Daoist Temple
Document Summary
Audio recording started: 3:32 pm tuesday, february 20, 2018. Originally author wrote the novel, he intended to have age as much older. In ch 18, when he moved into garden, he"s likely 13. Author"s family was searched by imperial gov"t and this is time when family began to decline dramatically. Tendency in novel that he doesn"t want to grow up. He likes to be young so he can stay with his female cousins w/o being separated from them. Unusual for boy to be with female cousin at that age. He doesn"t want to grow old, to assume adult responsibilities. He just wants to have fun with his female cousins. Author tries to present him as a spoiled brat at beginning. Impression is due to others" view of him. He almost smashed jade in front of grandmothr. Almost never throws tantum in front of girls and maids. He has to change for better except in ch 3.