Based on “The Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu, the ideal man and ideal woman of the Heian court can easily be discerned as n not really existing, with the main character, Genji, being the almost satirical example of what the ideal man was, and the descriptions of the many women in the story as a prescription for the ideal woman, with young Murasaki playing a role similar to that of Genji in the story. It is clear from the beginning of the story, Genji is the example of the ideal man. In the first chapter, "The Paulownia Pavilion (Kiritsubo)", Genji was born to the emperor and a woman of average birth as a "wonderfully handsome son" (5) who was with "such wonders of beauty and character that no one could blame. him” (6). From this point in the story, everything Genji says and does represents the ideal Heian man. This idea that Genji was representative of the ideal man during the Heian period is shared by most scholars of "The Tale of Genji", but some scholars believe that Murasaki Shikibu wrote "The Tale of Genji" as a parody or satire . of the ideal man of his time. I agree more with the latter. Murasaki Shikibu uses the Heian court's ideas of an ideal man to mock the idea of ​​an ideal man. The character of Genji is balanced by Murasaki Shikibu. She depicts him as handsome, charming, talented, and intelligent, but she contrasts these qualities with the actions he performs. “Even Murasaki Shikibu does not seem to have considered Genji her ideal man, judging from the [narrative] comments and glimpses she gives of his unsavory thoughts…” (Gatten 84). An example of this balance occurs in the chapter "Under the Cherry Blossoms" where Genji essentially violates...... middle of paper......The Tale of Genji", writes Murasaki Shikibu about Genji , the perfect man, and Murasaki, the perfect woman, who in fact does not act to define or identify the ideal man and woman of the Heian court, but rather to act as a pastiche on the idea of ideality These two characters, in conjunction with the second chapter of the story, in which women's ideals are discussed by men, create the definition of the ideal man and woman at the Heian court, and then parody that definition. Works Cited Gatten, Aileen. “Review: Criticism and Genji.” The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese 22.1 (1988): 84. JSTOR Internet. ": Genji and Murasaki. " Monumenta Nipponica 54.4 (1999): 437, 475-476. JSTOR. Internet. February 26, 2011. Tyler, Royall. The Tale of Genji: Abridged. Abridged ed. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2006. Print.