The Tale of Kieu (Essay Sample)

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The Tale of Kieu
Introduction
One can learn a lot from Kim-Van-Kieu due to the variety of things demonstrated in his work since many philosophically inspirational lessons are likely to be found. Nguyen-Du shows us how one can derive works of art, including poetry and music, and turn them into a masterpiece. Nguyen-Du, who was Vietnamese, would read poetic books from authors who were considered as legends and turn them into an even more outrageous and extraordinary works. Among other books, Nguyen-Du had read a popular Chinese novel called “Le Cid” that was written by Corneille and translated it into Vietnamese. Not only did he manage to retain its authenticity and intensity, but he took it to a whole new level of the rarest quality (Corneille, Pierre, and Wilbur 4). We also learn that the greatest form of art is inspired by pain, sorrow, and depression. Nguyen-Du wrote most of his inspirational works while serving a King he despised, afterwards he overthrew him, yet he hard all along served him together with his ancestors with utmost loyalty in a devoted manner. His philosophy was sound and this explains why his books were extraordinary despite his towards the regime.
Nguyen-Du’s writing skills were deeply engraved in poetry and figurative language. He almost did not describe anything literary but used a totally different choice of words. For example, he says “a flower amongst those who wore red trousers” meaning a jewel among rich girls (Corneille, Pierre, and Wilbur 5). Rich girls at the time wore red trousers as a symbol of wealth and good upbringing. He also gave accurate and precise descriptions of events, places, and individuals. For example, he describes the two sisters Thuy-Kieu and Thuy-Vin as two heavenly daughters slender as Apricot-trees, as pure as snow, and diverse in their perfection. We can notice here that he paid attention to details. Nguyen-Du also got some of his inspiration from music and visual art (Corneille 13). This greatly influenced his writings that were capable of stimulating the deepest of emotions from the reader. He also knew how to select each word in his passage. In fact, he did it so well that no matter how scabrous his article was, he hardly offended the reader. Among a wide range of literary skills this one stood out the most.
The difference between the Chinese articles he read and the Vietnamese version he wrote was that he gave the same stories in a most fascinating manner. He turned them into a masterpiece while relating with all Vietnamese respective of their age (Heinrich and Corneille 9).
“Le Cid” is a French tragic comedy that was first performed in 1637 in Paris and ...