Li Yu's "A Tower for the Summer Heat"

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that many of the themes Li Yu wrote and the way he narrated stories were very unusual at the time; he narrated his story, "A Tower for the Summer Heat", in the third person and, at the end of each chapter, he would break off from the storyline to start a small conversation with the reader. The author points out that, besides the story being comically funny, one important aspect to understand is that Li Yu was using the story to break social taboos on sex and marriages. The paper relates that, at the time Li Yu wrote, most marriages were arranged by parents, and people did not have a choice of marrying someone they found sexually attractive.

From the Paper:

"Jiren also broke traditional conformity by creating adultery. Traditionally, you could only have sex with your wife but Jiren had sex with all the maids without being married to them. By making this character break many social norms, Li Yu is able to make his readers reflect on those norms and decide whether or not Jiren should be admired or detested for breaking them. In fact, it seems that Li Yu is actually encouraging his readers to engage in discussion about this topic and express their opinions. This is evident by his use of narration."

More papers on Li Yu's "A Tower for the Summer Heat":

• Book Review # 115386 : "The Summer of 1787"
• Comparison Essay # 3814 : "A Rose for Emily" and "The Gilded Six-Bits"
• Analytical Essay # 28715 : "The Summer of the Monkeys"

APA Citation:

MLA Citation: