Gender Differences, Authority’s Discredibility, and Political Crisis: A Comparative Reading of Wang Shifu’s Xixiang Ji and Lessing’s Minna von Barnhelm

Although Wang Shifu’s Xixiang ji ( The Story of the Western Wing ) and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing’s Minna von Barnhelm were written against different lingual, cultural, and social backgrounds, a comparative reading of these two dramas casts new light upon subjects that have up to now received scant attention. Wang Shifu’s solemn temple and Lessing’s secular inn are similarly spaces for temporary accommodation and are witnesses of political penetration. Both depict young ladies and their maids who are adept at argument and are brave to resist authority. By contrast, the male protagonists are more susceptible to traditional norms. Political crises play vital roles in demonstrating gender differences, re-formulating the male protagonists’ conceptions about honor and love, and most importantly in revealing the dishonest behavior of authority.