The Tale of Genji: chapters 42-44, a new beginning

1/ For a while I thought The Tale of Genji was getting easier because I was used to it and knew all the characters and their titles. 
Then chapter 42 happened…
Anyway, this is the first chapter after Genji’s death, and there’s an 8-year gap between chapter 41 and chapter 42 (not counting the blank chapter). People grow up or grow old or die, people change titles and move around. Everything is a mess. The only clue I’ve been told is that the central characters are Kaoru and Niou. 
So how many children does the Emperor have? 
- The First Prince: The Heir Apparent. Married to Yugiri’s 1st daughter. He also has a Consort, who is Kobai’s elder daughter. 
- The Second Prince: lives at Umetsubo. Married to Yugiri’s 2nd daughter. 
- The Third Prince (Niou): His Highness of War, or joking called The Perfumed Prince of War. Niou was Murasaki’s favourite. 
- The Fourth Prince: called His Highness of Hitachi. Son of an Intimate instead of the Empress (daughter of Genji and Akashi), so he doesn’t have the same social standing as the others. 
- The First Princess: lives at the west wing of the southeast quarter at Rokujo. 
Kaoru is son of Her Cloistered Eminence and Kashiwagi (To no Chujo’s eldest son), though to the world he is Genji’s youngest son. 
Yugiri meanwhile becomes Minister of the Right. 
There are 3 main locations to remember: Genji’s original residence at court is Nijo; the estate where he builds 4 quarters for 4 seasons and moves his women there is Rokujo; Sanjo is Yugiri’s residence, where he lives with Kumoi no Kari (To no Chujo’s daughter). 
Because Murasaki Shikibu is mean, everyone moves around: 
- Hanachirusato (falling flowers) moves back to the east pavilion of Nijo. 
- Onna San no Miya (Her Cloistered Eminence, the stupid princess) moves to Sanjo. 
- Akashi still lives at the Rokujo estate but moves to the spring quarter (where Murasaki once lived). 
- Yugiri moves Ochiba (the Ichijo princess) to the northeast quarter at Rokujo (where Hanachirusato once lived). 
Why the fuck does everyone have to move around? Why can’t they stay at one place and make it easy for us all? 

2/ Both Niou and Kaoru are interested in Reizei’s First Princess (Reizei His Eminence is the previous Emperor, now retired) in chapter 42. 
Kaoru is jokingly called the Fragrant Captain because of his naturally good scent. Niou, in rivalry with him, suffuses his own clothes with the finest incenses and spends all day blending more.
Genji, with his extraordinary good looks, is associated with the sense of sight. Kaoru and Niou are associated with the sense of smell. 

3/ How many of these characters will become important?
In the blog post about To no Chujo’s children, I listed Kobai, his 2nd son. He is now Inspector Grand Counsellor. 
After Kobai’s 1st wife dies, he marries Makibashira (the handsome pillar), who is daughter of Higekuro and his 1st, mentally ill wife. Makibashira has been married to the Hotaru Prince/ the previous His Highness of War, Genji’s half-brother, but now he’s dead. 
- Kobai has 2 daughters by his 1st wife. The elder one is Consort for the Heir Apparent. 
- Makibashira has a daughter by the Hotaru Prince. She is called Her Highness because she’s daughter of a prince. 
- Kobai and Makibashira have a son together. 

4/ Did I say chapter 42 was confusing? 44 is worse. 
According to Royall Tyler’s notes, chronologically ch.44 overlaps ch.42 “The Perfumed Prince”, ch.45 “The Maiden of the Bridge”, and the first part of “Beneath the Oak”, ch.46, but the story it tells has little to do with these chapters. What? 
This chapter features Tamakazura’s children: 
- The Left Palace Guards Captain (Sakon no Chujo). 
- The Right Controller (Uchuben). 
- The Fujiwara Adviser (To Jiju): youngest son. 
- The elder daughter, who becomes the Haven. 
- The younger daughter, who becomes the Mistress of Staff. 
Kaoru and Yugiri change titles a few times so I’m not bothered to write everything down. Niou doesn’t appear here, but there’s another male character who is important—Yugiri’s son, who is the Chamberlain Lieutenant, then Third Rank Captain, then Consultant. He doesn’t have a nickname so I assume he will not be a major character later on. 
Tamakazura is Mistress of Staff. I think it’s useful to note down the different Empresses in the story: 
- The Kiritsubo Emperor’s Empress is Fujitsubo. His other women are the original Kokiden Consort (Genji’s enemy), the Kiritsubo Haven (Genji’s mother), and the Reikeiden Consort (Hanachirusato’s sister). 
- Suzaku’s women include the Shokyoden Consort (mother of the current Emperor) and Oborozukiyo (sister of the original Kokiden Consort). Oborozukiyo, as Mistress of Staff, is the one who gets involve with Genji and gets tangled in a scandal. Suzaku marries off his Third Princess Onna San no Miya to Genji. 
- Reizei’s Empress is Akikonomu (the Ise Consort, daughter of the late Rokujo Haven). Among his other women is the new Kokiden Consort (To no Chujo’s daughter). 
- The current Emperor’s Empress is Genji’s daughter by Akashi. 
The focus of chapter 44 is on Tamakazura—what she should do about her daughters, now that Higekuro is dead and they are all powerless. Both Reizei and the current Emperor want the elder daughter. Yugiri’s son and Kaoru also court her, especially the former.  

5/ Look at this: 

“The Mistress of Staff, who still had all her looks, seemed much too young to have such grown-up sons. What made Retired Emperor Reizei so keen was above all his fond memory of the time when he had wanted her, and he insisted on seeking her daughter only to keep that old fancy alive.” (Ch.44) 

Again, a substitute. 
At the same time, there’s a scene of Yugiri’s son (the Chamberlain Lieutenant) peering through the door to watch Tamakazura’s daughters playing Go, which echoes an early scene where Genji secretly watching Utsusemi (cicada) and Nokiba no Ogi (the mistaken one) playing the same game. 
There are numerous echoes and parallels throughout The Tale of Genji. 
I should add that the Chamberlain Lieutenant, Kaoru, and the girl they’re courting are all related through To no Chujo, as Kumoi no Kari (the Chamberlain Lieutenant’s mother), Kashiwagi (Kaoru’s real father), and Tamakazura are children from different mothers. 
(But of course, we have established that in this world, nobody cares about incest). 

6/ Does anyone notice that different people have different ideas about where Tamakazura’s elder daughter should go but nobody bothers to ask what the girl wants herself? Her feelings obviously don’t matter. 
In the end she goes to Reizei and becomes the Haven, which means that she has to compete against Akikonomu and her aunt the Kokiden Consort. The conflicts are similar to the conflicts at the beginning of the book—the difference is that Genji’s mother mostly faces hostility from a Consort, whereas in this case both women turn against her, especially after the 2 children she gives Reizei. 
The younger daughter meanwhile is sent to become the new Mistress of Staff and serve the current Emperor. Again, this is a substitution. 

7/ On its own, each of these chapters is fine, though a bit confusing. But in succession, chapters 42-44 become disjointed and episodic. In the introduction Royall Tyler says that these chapters are disjointed but 45-54 (the Uji chapters) would be all one piece, so that’s a good sign. 
Something that gets my attention is that these chapters, compared to before, are not very visual—the characters still write poems and mention flowers but there are barely any descriptions of nature. There are also fewer descriptions of contests, rituals, or events, as the narrative focuses more on the characters’ thoughts and feelings. 
Another thing is that chapter 44 for the large part has a smooth flow and nice pace but the last few pages have a jump of a few years and become a bit rushed—they feel like a summary of events. Royall Tyler also points out a few continuity mistakes, I’m not sure how to feel about them. 
However, these chapters are still good and lots of people have said that the Uji chapters are great or even the best in the book, so that’s something to look forward to.