Hell Screen - Themes

Themes

The work follows one of Akutagawa’s major styles: the updating of ancient tales to reflect modern psychology. One major psychological theme is artistic obsession, as Makoto Ueda puts it: “For Akutagawa the dilemma was insoluble: if the artist chooses to place his art ahead of his life, in the end he must suffer the destruction of his life”. The story is also an examination of Akutagawa's own devotion to his work. Another theme is the objectivity of truth, as the narrator, a servant of the Lord of Horikawa, repeatedly ignores the physical attraction the Lord has for Yuzuki, despite overwhelming evidence. The servant even refuses to believe his own eyes when he witnesses the Lord forcing himself on Yuzuki. At the stories end, the servant proclaims:

“Word soon spread that His Lordship had burned the carriage that night in the Palace of the Melting Snows, and there seem to have been many who were highly critical of the event. First of all came the question of Yoshihide’s daughter: why had his Lordship chosen to burn her alive? The rumor most often heard was that he had done it out of spite for her rejection of his love. I am certain, however, that he did it to punish the twisted personality of an artist who would go so far as to burn a carriage and kill a human being to complete the painting of a screen. In fact, I overheard His Lordship saying as much himself”.