44 pages • 1 hour read
Amy TanThe Valley of Amazement
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 3-4Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 3 Summary: “The Hall of Tranquility”
Violet gets out of a carriage at a house that looks nothing like the American Consulate. Two smiling women usher her inside as Fairweather flees. The house has a sign identifying it as The Hall of Tranquility, and Violet recognizes it as a second-rate courtesan house. The owner is called Mother Ma. She informs Violet that she will become the house’s virgin courtesan. After throwing multiple tantrums, Violet becomes more cooperative. She encounters a woman called Magic Gourd, who was once one of the Cloud Beauties at her mother’s house. Now too old to be an attractive courtesan, Magic Gourd is a maid in Mother Ma’s house. She helps Violet adjust to her new life. The girl’s virginity won’t be sold for another year, so they have time to plan an escape.
Magic Gourd learns that Fairweather tricked Lulu into leaving Shanghai so he could turn her house over to the Green Gang in exchange for canceling his gambling debts. He arranged for Lulu to receive a false letter from the consulate saying Violet had died in a carriage accident and never boarded the ship to San Francisco. The Green Gang forced all the other inhabitants of Lulu’s house to work for them. When Lulu wrote to Golden Dove, the latter was forced to confirm that Violet was dead.
Seeing no hope of rescue, Violet fakes obedience to Mother Ma’s rules. Inwardly, she chafes at her difficult situation. Magic Gourd says that Violet isn’t the only one who has suffered misery, abandonment, and abuse. She launches into her own life story. After being sold at the age of five, she suffered years of sexual abuse and a painful abortion before becoming a courtesan. She tells Violet that the girl’s future life as a courtesan might not be so terrible. Violet thinks, “How could any girl think that was a lucky life […] I was only half-Chinese, and I still held tight to the American half that believed I had other choices” (199).
A few positive events happen during this time. Magic Gourd reclaims Violet’s cat, Carlotta, and brings the animal to the House of Tranquility. Golden Dove also comes to visit. She says that Fairweather’s crimes finally caught up with him, and he was murdered in Hong Kong. She announces that she’s left Lulu’s house and is going to set up a shop for herself in Soochow. She invites Violet to visit her there someday.
A short time later, Mother Ma develops severe circulatory problems as a result of her diabetes. After her legs and arms turn black and must be amputated, she dies. A new owner named Madame Li arrives from Soochow to take over the courtesan house. She dismisses all the current beauties but retains Violet and Magic Gourd. Li tells Violet that she will make her party debut in a month. Despite Violet’s dread, Magic Gourd tells her, “One day, when you are popular and shimmering with jewels, you’ll say to me, ‘Magic Gourd, you were right, thank you for giving me a happy life’” (214).
Chapter 4 Summary: “Etiquette for Beauties of the Boudoir”
This chapter is narrated entirely from Magic Gourd’s point of view as she instructs Violet in the art of seduction. She discusses various subcategories, beginning with reputation. Courtesans are expected to learn and perform song-poems. Magic Gourd intends to teach Violet an extensive repertoire with all the gestures and emotions to match. The goal is to evoke nostalgia in a potential patron. Magic Gourd says, “When you touch a man’s nostalgia, he is yours” (227).
On the subject of patrons and cheapskates, Magic Gourd cautions, “As a courtesan, you must work toward the Four Necessities: jewelry, furniture, a seasonal contract with a stipend, and a comfortable retirement. Forget about love” (227). She describes the various types of suitors and teaches Violet to recognize the signs of a man who won’t spend freely as opposed to one who will be a generous patron. Magic Gourd’s goal is to save enough money to pay off Violet’s debt to Madame Li in three years and free them both to set up a business for themselves.
Magic Gourd then explains that men who engage with courtesans are searching for the fulfillment of their illusions. These fall into various categories but frequently revolve around the illusion of tragic love. Role-playing occasionally enters into the fulfillment of these fantasies.
Fashion is an important topic for any would-be courtesan to consider. She is on display whenever she appears in public, and her costume should be striking and stylish. Magic Gourd says that sometimes the wives of patrons pay courtesans to be allowed to examine their closets to see the sort of apparel that is most appealing to their husbands. Magic Gourd also advises Violet to have a photograph taken and to choose a catchy nickname that others will remember.
When targeting a potential patron, a courtesan is well-advised to allow him glimpses behind the theater curtain of her attire. Magic Gourd discusses various revealing postures that are calculated to draw a man’s attention.
She also discusses four possible ways for a courtesan to damage her career: menstruation, pregnancy, disease, and addiction to opium or alcohol. She offers Violet remedies to combat the first three and advises her to use tears for their strategic value to wheedle a patron into acts of generosity.
Finally, Magic Gourd talks about training in various sexual positions. She has hired a homosexual actor to simulate copulation with Violet so she can get used to the various routines and to coach her on appropriate facial expressions. Magic Gourd’s final piece of advice is that Violet should avoid emotional entanglements with her clients. She says, “This will happen to you many times, with many men. And I will be there to restore your common sense” (273).
Chapters 3-4 Analysis
This set of chapters focuses exclusively on the theme of sexual exploitation. Chapter 3 is primarily concerned with describing courtesans as victims to be exploited by both their patrons and their madams. When Violet finds herself in a second-class courtesan house, her uncooperative behavior earns her several beatings from Mother Ma. She quickly learns to obey without question and conceal her alternative strategy for dealing with this impossible situation. The house contrasts sharply with Lulu’s establishment. Its furniture is shabby, and the courtesans aren’t as attractive or well-dressed as their counterparts in the House of Lulu Mimi.
The most appalling aspect of sexual exploitation in courtesan houses is the auction of a girl’s virginity to the highest bidder. The defloration ceremony is planned a year in advance to increase anticipation of the prize and create a bidding war.
This chapter also exposes other forms of sexual abuse not directly associated with the courtesan way of life. Violet encounters Magic Gourd, whom she knew as one of the Cloud Beauties at her mother’s establishment. Magic Gourd was fired because she lied about her age and is older than she pretended to be. The assumption is that her looks would fade more rapidly than anticipated and give the house a bad reputation. When Violet is feeling sorry for herself, Magic Gourd describes her own horrible childhood after being sold at the age of five by an unscrupulous uncle. Her new master takes sexual advantage of her even though she was bought to be a maid for his wife. This abuse leads to a painful abortion and subsequent infection. It is a testimony to Magic Gourd’s resilience that she found a way to survive and prosper after such appalling treatment.
Chapter 4 reverses the source of exploitation and explains seduction tactics from the perspective of a courtesan. An escort capitalizes on a man’s need for romance to fulfill her own need for financial security. Creating the illusion of love is key to her success, and Magic Gourd teaches Violet every trick in the book to extract as much money as possible from her patrons, who believe they are purchasing genuine affection rather than a good actress.
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By Amy Tan
