The Pillow Book

“And oh how inexpressible, when the sun has sunk, to hear in the growing darkness the wind, and the song of autumn insects.” 

Shonagon demonstrates her attention to nature from the very first chapter of the book. The seasons, their sounds, and the light that highlights nature’s best attributes are her most common interests—the interests that fill The Pillow Book.

“Though it’s the same it sounds different—the language of priests. Men’s language. Women’s language. Commoners always use too many words when they speak.” 

The separation between holy people, men, and women is pronounced throughout Shonagon’s text; so too is the separation between nobility and “commoners.” Perhaps most notable, throughout the text, is the use of language to set the privileged apart, both through rarefied poetry and through barriers to literacy.

“Women without prospect, who lead dull earnest lives and rejoice in their petty little pseudo-pleasures, I find quite depressing and despicable.” 

Shonagon does not hesitate to judge other women, especially those from a class lower than her own. She observes those without ambition to be boring and unworthy of high rank.