Commentary: Shen Mei Zhuang
Introduction
In this drama, Shen Mei Zhuang is Zhen Huan's best friend. She comes from an esteemed family, and as such, gained the attention of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Of course, she is also good looking and virtuous and is notable for being the only concubine during the selection that gained the favour of the Empress Dowager.
Her behaviour in the series
We see her as a loyal friend. Throughout the whole drama, we see that she has remained a good friend of Zhen Huan, and stuck by her through thick and thin.
She is proud. After being framed by Consort Hua and being grounded by the Emperor, she lost all hope in him and never sought to regain his favour, until much later. She developed an affection for Doctor Wen and eventually gave birth to his daughter.
She is an elegant woman, embodying all the virtues that were expected of a woman at that period of time. She is also smart and well educated, perhaps that is why the Emperor wanted her to manage the harem.
Serving the Empress Dowager
She is the only consort to do so. But why would she do it? Other consorts were busy trying to gain the attention of the Emperor.
For one, she does not want to be close to the Emperor after he has grounded her.
Perhaps, she is doing it for self-protection. In the harem where you are despised if you did not gain the Emperor's favour, being close to the Empress Dowager is perhaps the only way in which she could protect herself.
Or maybe, she thinks of the Empress Dowager as family. In the Forbidden City, there is very little chance of meeting your family. In this drama, she never got to visit her family after she was selected as the emperor's concubine. Perhaps, she relieves her homesickness by tending to the empress dowager. In return, the empress dowager treats her as one of her own.
Out of consideration for the concubine, the empress dowager tries to persuade her to care for the emperor.
Her flaws
Actually, she doesn't really have flaws. A better way of saying it would be that she is not as kind-hearted as we thought she was.
When Zhen Huan mentions that she should replace officials in the Observatory with one of her own, Mei Zhuang replies, "That is easy. Every human being eats the same food and gets sick.", implying that the officials should be poisoned.
When Mei Zhuang needed to visit Zhen Huan in the monastery, she poisoned Princess Wen Yi and bribed a priest to make up a reason for Mei Zhuang to go to the monastery, just to meet Zhen Huan. We could argue that Mei Zhuang desperately needed to see her, but it is chilling to see that she could poison Wen Yi just for that.
Or maybe, when she burned herself just so that she could ensure that Consort Hua would be sentenced to death for attempting to burn Zhen Huan's chamber?
In this drama, Shen Mei Zhuang is Zhen Huan's best friend. She comes from an esteemed family, and as such, gained the attention of the Emperor and the Empress Dowager. Of course, she is also good looking and virtuous and is notable for being the only concubine during the selection that gained the favour of the Empress Dowager.
Her behaviour in the series
We see her as a loyal friend. Throughout the whole drama, we see that she has remained a good friend of Zhen Huan, and stuck by her through thick and thin.
She is proud. After being framed by Consort Hua and being grounded by the Emperor, she lost all hope in him and never sought to regain his favour, until much later. She developed an affection for Doctor Wen and eventually gave birth to his daughter.
She is an elegant woman, embodying all the virtues that were expected of a woman at that period of time. She is also smart and well educated, perhaps that is why the Emperor wanted her to manage the harem.
Serving the Empress Dowager
She is the only consort to do so. But why would she do it? Other consorts were busy trying to gain the attention of the Emperor.
For one, she does not want to be close to the Emperor after he has grounded her.
Perhaps, she is doing it for self-protection. In the harem where you are despised if you did not gain the Emperor's favour, being close to the Empress Dowager is perhaps the only way in which she could protect herself.
Or maybe, she thinks of the Empress Dowager as family. In the Forbidden City, there is very little chance of meeting your family. In this drama, she never got to visit her family after she was selected as the emperor's concubine. Perhaps, she relieves her homesickness by tending to the empress dowager. In return, the empress dowager treats her as one of her own.
Out of consideration for the concubine, the empress dowager tries to persuade her to care for the emperor.
Her flaws
Actually, she doesn't really have flaws. A better way of saying it would be that she is not as kind-hearted as we thought she was.
When Zhen Huan mentions that she should replace officials in the Observatory with one of her own, Mei Zhuang replies, "That is easy. Every human being eats the same food and gets sick.", implying that the officials should be poisoned.
When Mei Zhuang needed to visit Zhen Huan in the monastery, she poisoned Princess Wen Yi and bribed a priest to make up a reason for Mei Zhuang to go to the monastery, just to meet Zhen Huan. We could argue that Mei Zhuang desperately needed to see her, but it is chilling to see that she could poison Wen Yi just for that.
Or maybe, when she burned herself just so that she could ensure that Consort Hua would be sentenced to death for attempting to burn Zhen Huan's chamber?
Comments
Post a Comment