The Ending of the Western Bower
By Valerie Shor
The ending of the Western Bower in the Yue version feels more real. The ending of the fourth act written in the original makes it seem as though Yingying and Zhang share a deep connection when he dreams of Yingying wishing to reunite with him. The fifth act gives them a stereotypical happy ending. I think that the Yue version is much more modern because it does not make it seems as if sex has to have a permanent meaning between people. In that time respectable girls were only supposed to have sex with the men they were married to and were only supposed to ever marry one man but it isn’t the same any longer. In removing the scenes that create a connection between them after Zhang leaves for the examination it makes their love more modern in that it doesn’t tell the audience anything that suggests that they are going to define themselves by the short period of time they were lovers for the rest of their lives. They might, but the ending leaves it open, they could also both move on to other relationships. Life is unpredictable and not knowing what happens after he leaves makes the story feel more relatable to ordinary people’s lives. The story doesn’t make it seem like falling in love is only valuable if the lovers marry, or if they continue their relationship, or that if someone falls in love with one person they should stay in live with them forever.
The Ending of the Western Bower
The Ending of the Western Bower
By Valerie Shor
The ending of the Western Bower in the Yue version feels more real. The ending of the fourth act written in the original makes it seem as though Yingying and Zhang share a deep connection when he dreams of Yingying wishing to reunite with him. The fifth act gives them a stereotypical happy ending. I think that the Yue version is much more modern because it does not make it seems as if sex has to have a permanent meaning between people. In that time respectable girls were only supposed to have sex with the men they were married to and were only supposed to ever marry one man but it isn’t the same any longer. In removing the scenes that create a connection between them after Zhang leaves for the examination it makes their love more modern in that it doesn’t tell the audience anything that suggests that they are going to define themselves by the short period of time they were lovers for the rest of their lives. They might, but the ending leaves it open, they could also both move on to other relationships. Life is unpredictable and not knowing what happens after he leaves makes the story feel more relatable to ordinary people’s lives. The story doesn’t make it seem like falling in love is only valuable if the lovers marry, or if they continue their relationship, or that if someone falls in love with one person they should stay in live with them forever.
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