Romanesque

Osamu Dazai's Romanesque is an analysis of the artist's pursuit of beauty, which for the artist, are his ideas which spawn from his imagination, and the conflict every artist faces, the preservation of this beauty. He illustrates this idea by using three flat characters to explain the stages the author goes through in order to make fantasy reality.

The author uses a fable in order to present the characters. The fable genre is the most effective genre when telling this story because of the qualities of a fable. All fables begin with the famous phrase "Once upon a time…" which usually signifies that all fables have a sense of timelessness. Fables also have a sense of magic in them, often used to better illustrate fantasy and the surreal. Because imagination often contains these elements, a fable is an obvious choice. Had Dazai chosen to use a different genre, something more serious, it would not have been as effective. The fable genre also clearly details the life of the three characters. This is essential, as each character background allows the reader to better understand the characters. And since each character is representative of the steps the author goes through in order to capture and preserve beauty, background information better explains the theme of the story. This is why the fable genre is essential for this story.

Taro the Wizard represents the superego of the artist, Taro, as he represents fantasy, imagination and illusion. The secret of Taro's wizardry represents how the author gets his "magic" or his imagination. The line spoken by Taro "what a bore, what a bore, what a bore" clearly represents the process in which the author goes through in order to get his imagination to function. It is often in boredom that our imagination starts to flow. Taro is also a dreamer, just like many artists who come up with their ideas. He however, does not use his potential, unlike most artists. Taro, like the artist, was interested in the pursuit of ultimate... [continues]

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