Lust Caution Summary

The story “Lust Caution” by Eileen Chang opens with an elaborate, extended description of the appearance of the protagonist, Chia-chih, which depicts her hair, face, makeup, and clothing in excruciating detail. Many of the phrases used reveal the intentional nature of how Chia-chih has dressed: “full advantage”, “understated”, “nonchalantly”, “allowed” (Chang 3). These phrases imply that Chia-chih has made deliberate choices to project an attitude in the way she dresses.The emphasis placed on Chia-chih’s body and appearance highlights the value of women’s bodies, to themselves and society. Moreover, Chia-chih’s intentional choices about her body illustrate how women’s bodies were tools used to exercise agency. The world of “Lust Caution” is a society that perceives Chia-chih’s body as the only valuable tool she has to offer.
It is clear in “Lust Caution” that Chia-chih’s “weapon”
In order to convincingly play her role as a wife, Chia-chih has to sleep with the only one of her compatriots to have actual sexual experience, whom she loathes. “Of course. He was the only one who had been inside a brothel. But given that she had already determined to make a sacrifice of herself, she couldn’t very well resent him for being the only candidate for the job.” (Chang 24) The key here is that she makes “a sacrifice of herself”. In order to take part in this plan, Chia-chih has to pay the cost, which in this case is losing her virginity (which at the time, was significant), sleep with a man she loathes, and risk getting an STD: “For a long time, she agonized over whether she had caught something from Liang Jun-sheng” (Chang 27). The sacrifice Chia-chih makes only cements the value of her body. If it had no value, it would be no sacrifice to use it. The fact that Chia-chih considers this act to be a sacrifice indicates the high value society places on the bodies of