This study aims to analyze characters' personalities in 〈Poeuigyojip〉 and identify its narrative method and consciousness of an author.
〈Poeuigyojip〉 whose background is Seoul from June 1864 to June 1866 is a novel written in Chinese. This novel which realistically describes love affair between a poor yangban(nobleman), Yi Saeng and a married woman, Cho Ok is estimated to be written in the late 19th century.
〈Poeuigyojip〉 with a shocking subject of adultery between two married people is a traditional romance which features pursuit of good will and spirit, and how to form a connection between a man and a woman. However, the elements of its complete difference from other romances are the subject of desire is female; a meeting spot of a man and a woman is an ordinary place, a well; and this novel specifically describes people's general feelings and situation in the late 19th century Seoul. It is rather characterized by a novel of romance and manners.
In this novel, various character groups appear as the love affair between Cho Ok and Yi Saeng develops. They are no longer bounded by the dichotomy of good and bad which features classical novels and realistically and honestly follow their life desire, which elevates fun of this novel.
In order to clearly reveal personalities of Cho Ok and Yi Saeng, the author applied showing for Cho Ok's and telling for Yi Saeng's, respectively.
Cho Ok is a woman with a strong sense of identity and aware of inequality of caste system. She follows her desire while challenging feudal Confucian ethics and social taboos. The author defends Cho Ok's struggling for her faith by positively narrating her. The author also narrates parasitic lives of yangbans-referred to as Yi Saeng-in the country, which mocks their failure to respond to changes of time and their power-oriented entitlement. This allows to be found that the author holds a critical attitude toward contradictory caste system and feudal practices.
This study was able to interpret with several grounds Cho Ok's duplicity which hasn't been detailedly inferred so far: how did she get involved in adultery against Confucianism despite a Confucianism educated person? In addition, this study seems successful in highlighting consciousness of an author which had never been handled either.
However, this study identified consciousness of an author only by taking her or his positive attitude toward Cho Ok. It also failed to compare 〈Poeuigyojip〉 with other literatures with the same 19th century social and cultural backgrounds and missed a good opportunity to find a literary meaning of the novel. These weaknesses of this study are left as an important assignment for future study.