Talk:Murasaki Shikibu/@comment-25712820-20190206015214/@comment-31631793-20190206071730

Reality Marble, the whole Murasaki affair is the perfect example of difference in culture between the time of the writing and our today's reading. Murasaki (the character) was 12 at the time, which was the age of majority at a time where the average lifespan is only 40 even in the higher spheres of society (in fact, numerous characters in Genji die before even that age, including Emperors). It is also worthy to note the Murasaki was written as a stand in for the author, most likely as how she would have wanted her life to be if she had met Fujiwara no Michinaga (the real life Genji inspiration) sooner.