“… Then a noble princess is not a human!” – Princess Kaguya
As several other GLARe posts show, gender stereotypes are reflected in animated characters. When you place a Disney princess next to a prince, the differences are stark (take Sleeping Beauty below, for example). Traditionally, the princess might be polite and beautiful, taking a submissive role in the narrative whilst the dashing prince fights for her rescue. On the other hand, there are princesses like Mulan, who attempt to hide femininity by changing her appearance, behaviour, and manner of speech. Linguistic features are a part of how gender identity is constructed (see Vicky’s post on hegemonic masculinity for a good discussion on this matter).
People have long held the belief that men and women speak very differently. There are models like Lakoff (1975), who claimed women use more tag questions, politeness, and avoid aggressive or threatening language. Such beliefs have recently been called into question by linguists. However, natural speech is far different from scripted dialogue. Animated characters are constructions of gendered discourse and can either adhere or flout conventions. We see this in Mulan. Whilst Mulan is the unconventional ‘warrior princess’, she also reproduces stereotypes with her male persona’s presentation (Glassmeyer, 2013). Shrek’s Fiona is also criticised for similar reasons and remains “problematic” interdiscursively with respect to ‘female warrior discourse’ (Unger and Sunderland, 2007).
It is with this in mind that I want to discuss another ‘unconventional’ heroine: that of Kaguya-hime (hime is the Japanese honorific suffix for ‘Princess’) from the Studio Ghibli film Kaguya-hime no Monogatari ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’(Takahata, 2013).
Who is Kaguya-hime?
To summarise briefly, ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’ is based on the Japanese folk tale (monogatari) Taketori Monogatari ‘The Tale of The Bamboo Cutter’. The story describes the life of Kaguya-hime, a princess from the Moon, who is discovered inside a bamboo shoot by a bamboo cutter, and subsequently pushed into the noble court as a ‘Princess’ for her beauty.
Director Isao Takahata called the film “The Crime and Punishment of a Princess”, adding that he had wanted to shed light on the princess who is voiceless in the original monogatari. His goal was to depict the tribulations she would have faced as a young woman in Heian society (Cannes, 2014). This is immediately clear from the title difference: ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’ mentions her full name. Throughout the film, we witness her struggles with conventional ‘femininity’ in behaviour, appearance, and relationships. Kaguya-hime is the ‘caged woman’, forced to act as a ‘Princess’ for the noblemen around her, behaving and speaking in a way that reveals ‘the patriarchal pains of womanhood’ (Cao, 2019).
There have been several studies regarding the subversion and adherence of female stereotypes in Studio Ghibli films (see Finley, 2023 and Taşkin, 2023). However, these have largely focused on visual and narrative features and have not necessarily considered linguistic analysis. Therefore, in this blog post, I will be paying particular attention to language in key scenes throughout the film. My aim is to reach a final conclusion:
How does language give and take Kaguya-hime’s agency? How does she navigate gendered expectations?
By observing both the original Japanese dialogue and its English translation, I will discuss how ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’ portrays female language conventions, especially concerning social aspects like politeness and face principles.
Modes of address: status and gender
Modes of address are a great way to examine how identities are perceived. They reflect:
- the relationship(s) between participants in a conversation
- social context of language
- the participants’ attitudes and beliefs.
Through the modes of address in ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’, we can examine how gender stereotypes are attributed to male and female characters.
The modes of address for Kaguya-hime are especially telling. She is most often called “Princess” and “Princess Kaguya”. In fact, the Bamboo Cutter calls her as thus immediately upon discovering her. In Japanese, he says: 「何と美しいお姫様だろう!」, translating to “What a beautiful princess!”. Kaguya-hime appears small and infantile, sleeping and stretching like a baby. Despite being in such a vulnerable state, she is categorically nominalised as a “Princess”. This seems to set her character onto a pre-determined path chosen by the Bamboo Cutter. The adjective “beautiful” follows international stereotypes for royal protagonists in films, mainly that a princess must be attractive. This in turn shows that a woman’s position is often decided by her appearance. In this sense, Kaguya-hime is othered as a person within the first few minutes of the film; beauty is associated to social status, and therefore, she must be heralded as a ‘princess’, not a baby.
Furthermore, the Bamboo Cutter claims that Kaguya-hime is surely “a gift from heaven”, written in Japanese as 「天からの授かりもの」. Here, we have religious imagery with “heaven”, glorifying her as above humanity. Although praising Kaguya-hime, the Bamboo Cutter’s categorisation of her is archetypal and fixated on status. He calls her “a perfect little princess”, claiming she does not need to be “raised” like a normal child and is instead deserving of material gifts. The film seems to elevate Kaguya-hime’s status as soon as she is introduced, when in fact, she has been confined to a gendered position. This sets her path for the rest of the film: to become a ‘princess’ fitting of her father’s wishes.
The start of the film follows Kaguya-hime’s upbringing in the countryside before she is moved to the capital. Whilst in the countryside, she is called “Li’l Bamboo” by her childhood friends. The original Japanese for this is「竹の子」‘Take no ko’, translating to “Bamboo child” roughly. The English subtitles embellish this mode of address, adding the slang “Li’l” which is typically associated with rural/working class dialects, or colloquial usage of a humorous or affectionate nature. The name in both languages reflects endearment – a fond address signifying her individuality. The opening scenes in the countryside also include how Kaguya-hime refers to Sutemaru: “Sutemaru-Oniichan”.
“Oniichan” is an affixal honorific used for one’s elder brothers or sometimes close older male familiars (used usually by young children in this latter case). It is associated to proximity. On the otherhand, Kaguya-hime is distanced through her nominalisation of “hime”. When Kaguya-hime leaves the countryside, the narrator stops referring to her as “Li’l Bamboo” and omits “oniichan” from Sutemaru’s name, simply saying “…the Princess and Sutemaru” (「…姫にも、捨て丸にも…」). This sharp change of modes of address signifies the distance between the two characters in terms of social status and gender, and additionally how differently they are perceived.
Once in the capital, Li’l Bamboo is referred to with prestigious terms. This is especially reflected in the mode of address “the noble princess” (「高級の姫君」’kouki no himegimi’), which is used most often by the Bamboo Cutter. This could objectify Kaguya-hime, fixating on her worth as a princess instead of a young girl. With this, we see a clear connection between social worth and women as attributed by the male characters. It is also worth noting that the name “Kaguya” itself is given to her by a man in a traditional name-giving ceremony. Therefore, her entire character appears to be decided, idealised, and formed by male expectations of princesshood. Indeed, the film represents how status can be attributed to a name/title.
Dehumanised as a ‘Princess’
High society women in the Heian era were modelled to act, speak, dress, and behave according to idealisations of ‘the perfect woman’. Some Heian expectations included: not walking in front of men; painting their teeth black; and blanching their faces. Kaguya-hime yells “Then a noble princess is not a human!” when first ordered to dress and act accordingly. The common nouns “princess” and “human” are effectively paralleled in this scene, distanced as two separate concepts. Where women were expected to be quiet and obedient, Kaguya-hime exclaims in frustration that becoming a “Princess” is to abandon “humanity”.
When she later submits to these standards, it is noted that she “…was like a different person”, thus emphasising her unhappiness and loss of self-identity.
A key scene for dehumanisation is when the five male suitors present their marriage proposals to Kaguya-hime (who is hidden behind a bamboo partition), despite never having seen or met her before.
Below is how each suitor describes her:
| Prince Kuramochi | “A jewelled branch from a tree of Mount Harai in China… an unattainable treasure…” |
| Prince Ishitsukuri | “the stone begging bowl of Lord Buddha in India…” |
| Lord Minister of the Right Abe | “…a robe of fire-rat fur… as pure as this rare treasure of China” |
| Great Counsellor Otomo | “…you are a jewel that glistens more radiantly than the five coloured stone that shines from the dragon’s neck…” |
| Middle Counsellor Isonokami | “…like the cowry shell the swallow warms as a treasure, and a charm for safe birth…” |
As you can see, the semantic field (a set of meaning related terms) is overwhelmingly materialistic and ‘exotic’. The association to “treasure” is entirely centred on value, commodifying her and rejecting her personality. Additionally, all the descriptions focus on her appearance, signifying the shallow way women’s looks are appraised, valued, and rated.
Refusing the patriarchy: face threats and (im)politeness
In pragmatics, there is the concept of ‘face’ – our public image. Negative face refers to our desire not to be impeded on, whilst positive face refers to our desire for a good public image (Brown and Levinson, 1987). In this scene, the suitors surely believe they are praising Kaguya-hime. However, they are actually threatening her face by comparing her to material treasures. The men are especially imposing upon her negative face by urging Kaguya-hime to become their wife. The princess is forced to choose a wealthy gentleman to “ensure her own happiness”, as Lady Sagami (her tutor) states. However, in defiance, Kaguya-hime spectacularly rejects these patriarchal conventions through her language.
Coates (2013) noted that women stereotypically use more politeness features than men. This is often so women – who find themselves in socially inferior positions to men – can avoid imposing on men’s negative face. What is fascinating is that Kaguya-hime completely abides by these conventions, but ignores the suitors’ face threatening behaviour by responding to it politely. This ‘mock politeness’ is – in fact – a form of impoliteness, and therefore threatens the face of the suitors (Culpeper, 2018). Kaguya-hime mitigates a face threat towards the men through polite language, who humorously do not understand that she is mocking them.
She says as thus:
She offends their positive face as male suitors by not accepting outright, and also offends their negative face by requesting their services. However, she also mitigates this through indirectness and the use of politeness markers. Notably, she does not form her order as a directive speech act, nor does she use imperatives. Kaguya-hime abides by politeness principles with the hedging of 「どうか」, roughly meaning “If you could” or “I ask…”. Such epistemic modality never once directly imposes on the suitors, instead testing their will to earn her marriage. Such a feat would have been unheard of for women, who were expected to be subservient to male nobles. Therefore, Kaguya-hime’s well-crafted response is an action of rejection.
Additionally, Kaguya-hime exposes the irony of being compared to beautiful treasures when they have never seen her. She says as thus:
“If I can obtain one of those treasures, then I will happily become that gentlemen’s treasure”.
“Treasure” is juxtaposed in material and abstract meaning, subtly criticising the way she was objectified by the men. “I will happily” uses deontic modality, giving the false illusion that the men are still in control of her cooperation. However, the men’s positive faces have been undeniably threatened, exposing their inability to carry out her requests. Therefore, the men seem smaller, foolish, and inefficient. On the other hand, Kaguya-hime is stronger, all whilst never directly engaging the men with offensive language. With this one scene, we see how Kaguya-hime expertly mitigates face threatening behaviour by refusing to comply with the expectations held for her.
However, I find it important to state that this was a lone victory for Kaguya-hime. For the majority of the film, she is commanded and imposed upon by men who dominate linguistically. We see this manifested in the climax of the film: where the Royal Emperor attempts to forcibly take her to his palace as a consort.
The Emperor uses directive speech acts to dominate the conversation, commanding “come with me to the palace”. This is emphasized in the Japanese dialogue with 「…いらっしゃい」(’irrasshyai’). This is used to politely invite someone: the Emperor believes he is blessing her with his attraction. For the first time in the film, Kaguya-hime uses a ‘bald on record face threat’, exclaiming “I will never go to your place!”. However, despite such strong deontic modality, she is brushed off by the Emperor, who responds with: “If I wish it, you must become mine”. This continues the strategies of objectification and dehumanisation, forcing Kaguya-hime to rescind her autonomy. Therefore, despite displaying face threatening behaviour, the woman is overpowered in conversation by social context: ‘the woman must be submissive.’
It is the realisation of this social ‘fact’ that pushes Kaguya-hime to her emotional and psychological breaking point, wishing no more than to escape her life on Earth.
Conclusion: Does Kaguya-hime have agency?
At the end of the film, we are left with the poignant thought: did Kaguya-hime hold any agency at all?
Whilst the film does illustrate the unfairness of female expectations, it might also perpetuate the very gender conventions it aims to criticise. Much like certain criticisms of Mulan argue, the film’s male and female characters are differentiated through essential qualities that could inadvertently “further deepen” gender differences (Glassmeyer, 2013). Through the film’s attempt to present Kaguya-hime’s behaviour as non-conforming, her continued suffering could perpetuate a harmful message of ‘destined’ female subservience. Furthermore, the film concludes with her forced return to the Moon by order of Buddha. This is a clear erasure of power and could leave the audience with a sense of dissatisfaction.
Despite this, it would be remiss to say that Kaguya-hime has no agency in the film at all. She demonstrates unconventional power and self-awareness many times:
- her disillusionment with being a princess
- her navigation of the five male suitors
- her rejection of the Emperor, the highest seat of male power in Heian Japan.
In fact, one of the very last frames of the film is her looking back at Earth, disobeying Buddha’s order to never look back.
It seems to me that her fluctuating power itself strengthens her role as a heroine. ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’ is the story of a young woman placed in unusual circumstances. She both adheres and flouts gender conventions. She expresses discontent with her life, but ultimately begs to remain on Earth. This ‘contradictory’, complicated portrayal of ‘desire’ and emotions is – to me – proof of the film’s message: the unfairness of being viewed as a gendered ‘someone’ in society.
With gender conventions becoming a more and more debated topic, it is crucial to acknowledge gendered struggles in media. Doing so, we can discuss the harmful applications of stereotypes in reality. Animation is a beautiful medium of experiences and stories, and ‘The Tale of The Princess Kaguya’ is just one inspirational example.
References
Brown, Penelope. & Levinson, Stephen. (1987). Politeness: some universals in language usage. Cambridge University Press. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.1017/CBO9780511813085
Cannes: Directors’ Fortnight (Event) (2014). The Tale of The Princess Kaguya: A film by Isao Takahata. BCG Press. www.wildbunch.eu
Cao, Caroline. (2019). The Patriarchal Pains of Womanhood in the Films of Studio Ghibli’s Isao Takahata. https://www.animefeminist.com/feature-the-patriarchal-pains-of-womanhood-in-the-films-of-studio-ghiblis-isao-takahata/
Coates, Jennifer. (2013). Women, Men and Language: A Sociolinguistic Account of Gender Differences in Language (Third Edition). London: Routledge. [Accessed from https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315835778/women-men-language-jennifer-coates]
Cook, Barry., & Bancroft, Tony (Directors) (1998). Mulan [Film]. Walt Disney Studios.
Culpeper. J., Schauer. Gila A., (2018). ‘Pragmatics’. In Culpeper, J., Kerswill, P., Wodak, R., McEnery, T., Katamba, F. English Language: Description, Variation and Context. Red Globe Press.
Finley, Jolie. (2023). Defamiliarized Gender in the Works of Hayao Miyazaki. Western Kentucky University Press. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.wku.edu/stu_hon_theses/1001
Glassmeyer, Danielle. (2013). “You the man, well, sorta”: gender binaries and liminalty in Mulan. From Diversity in Disney Films: critical essays on race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality and disability / edited by Johnson Cheu. Jefferson, North Carolina. McFarland & Company Inc. Publishers.
Lakoff, Robin. (1973). Language and woman’s place. Language in Society, 2(1). https://web.stanford.edu/class/linguist156/Lakoff_1973.pdf
Reitherman, Wolfgang., & Larson, Eric., & Clark, Les. (Directors) (1959). Sleeping Beauty [Film]. Walt Disney Studios.
Takahata, Isao (Director). (2013) Kaguya-hime no Monogatari [Film]. Studio Ghibli
Taşkin, H ve Inanç. (2023). Reflections of the Female Identity Constructions in Animation Movies: An Analysis on of Disney and Hayao Miyazaki Movies. In Journal of Erciyes Communication (10). Istanbul Rumeli University: Istanbul. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/erciyesiletisim/issue/75676/1183539
Unger, Johann., & Sunderland, Jane. (2008). Gendered Discourses in a Contemporary Animated Film: Subversion and Confirmation of Gender Stereotypes in Shrek. From Linguistic Insights: Studies in Language and Communication (Volume 54). p. 462- 486.
Brief table of some Japanese terms mentioned
| JAPANESE with Romaji reading | MEANING |
| 「姫」Hime | Honorific suffix for ‘Princess’. |
| 「物語」Monogatari | Tale, story.
Also refers to genre of traditional Japanese folk tales. |
| 「竹取物語」Taketori Monogatari | “The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter”.
A famous Monogatari written by an unknown author in the late 9th or early 10th century during the Heian Period. It is considered the oldest surviving Monogatari. |
| 「平安時代」Heian Jidai | Period between 794-1185, often regarded as the golden era for Japanese art, poetry, and literature.
Notable for the establishment of the Imperial Court system. |
| 「お兄ちゃん」Onii-chan | Affixal honorific for elder brother.
Can also be used for close older men. |
| 「高級の姫君」Kouki no himegimi | “High-class Princess”. |
| 「いらっしゃい」Irasshyai | Polite expression for “(to) come/arrive”. |