Lady Hyegy Laung: An Analysis

The relationship between men and women in a patriarchal society, such as Chosŏn Korea, raises many questions about how much influence a woman was able to procure. While she would technically have been restricted to her limits within the inner chamber, the actuality is not always so clear. One illustration of this discrepancy can be seen within The Memoirs of Lady Hyegyŏng. Throughout her memoirs, Lady Hyegyŏng shows that for a woman of her social standing, the strict appearance of Confucianism many times allowed for both genders to exhibit an influential role. With an examination of the writing of Lady Hyegyŏng, one can see examples of this authority through, the role of women as models of Confucian behavior, the responsibility to ensuring proper education, and the continual balance of filial duty.
One of the characteristics of Confucianism can be seen within the importance of the family unit. While this meant that there was a focus on the individual relationships
By the time of Lady Hyegyŏng, neo-Confucianism was arguably the dominant intellectual school within the Chosŏn court. This reflects upon how the movement of “neo-Confucianism spread rapidly among the ranks of the officialdom and became the major focus of the curriculum in the highest academic institutions” (SEAT, 558). This education was something that was introduced to Lady Hyegyŏng from an early age, likely due to her father’s scholarly position. While her memoirs can give the perception of a widespread system of instruction for women, in actuality Lady Hyegyŏng’s status granted her access to Confucian scholars that would have not been available to the general population. Perhaps one of the greatest reasons for this emphasis on educating women, was in the pursuit of preparation for them to be able to further the scholarship of their own