Peony in Love

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Peony has just turned sixteen and is ready to marry the husband she has been betrothed to by birth, even though she has never once met him. On the outside, she is an obedient daughter content with being locked in her house by her family for her entire life; on the inside, Peony secretly longs for passion, adventure, and an opportunity to see the outside world, much like the heroine of The Peony Pavilion, an opera which Peony is obsessed with, does.

Then, during a performance of The Peony Pavilion, Peony sees a handsome man, and Love At First Sight ensues.

Peony In Love by Lisa See is novel that not only explores the effect of qing and poetry in Chinese society during the reign of the Manchus, but also vividly depicts the realm of the Chinese underworld and ultimately, the many forms of love.

Tropes used in Peony in Love include:

• Arranged Marriage: Between Peony and Wu Ren.
  • A sight unseen Perfectly Arranged Marriage if Peony hadn't died.
• Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Peony, at the end of the book.
• Bookworm: Peony, big time. Her father counts as well.
• Character Tics: Peony's mother is often seen fiddling with her set of house keys, especially when she's nervous or agitated.
• Cool Old Lady: Peony's grandmother.
• Daddy's Girl: Peony has a strong bond with her father and is hurt when she discovers that because she's a daughter, and not a son, she's not as valuable to him as she thought.
• Death Is a Sad Thing
• Deliberate Values Dissonance: Lisa See's really shown her work. The grotesque manner of footbinding is touted throughout the book as something positive and helpful, as it allows women to make respectable marriages, and seen as a sign of defiance to the Manchus, while the talk of a woman's only duty is to bear sons and serve her husband's family very accurately replicates the attitude of most during China at the time.
  • Interestingly enough, this book also manages to convey feminist themes, with the abundance of poetry written by women and the extremely prevalent theme that all women want to be heard and have a voice.
• Despair Event Horizon: Peony almost goes into one after her mother burns all of her books, including her beloved copy of The Peony Pavilion. Luckily, finding out the the book with all her commentary survived prevented a Heroic BSOD.
• Driven to Suicide: Peony starves herself to death to avoid her Arranged Marriage, unknowing that her husband-to-be is actually the man she's in love with.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Peony completely loses it on Tan Ze and Ren's wedding night. However, she calms down when she realizes that Tan Ze's coldness makes her beloved Wu Ren miserable. She then decides to put all her energy into making Ren's marriage successful.
• Intelligence Equals Isolation: Peony is the most intellectually gifted and emotionally aware girl in her family's home, and she suffers hard for it.
• Jerkass: Peony's grandfather.
• Our Ghosts Are Different
• Love At First Sight: Peony and Ren.
• People Puppets: Peony as a ghost does this with Tan Ze to make her a better wife and lover for Ren.
• Replacement Goldfish: After Peony dies her young cousin Tan Ze is sent to marry Wu Ren.
• Show Within a Show: The Peony Pavilion opera, staged at Peony's family home.
• Spirited Young Lady: Peony.
• Spoiled Brat: Tan Ze.
• Succession Crisis: The women in Peony's wealthy family (including the concubines) are unable to produce sons/heirs. However, there's a reason for it. Peony's dead grandmother cursed her son's family with barrenness as revenge, because he and her husband forced her to die in their place while the Manchu soldiers were hunting them down. She later lifts the curse at Peony's request.
• The Lost Lenore: A zig-zagged example where the dead, beautiful woman is the main character. However, Peony is certainly this for Wu Ren, who continuously grieves for her after she dies.
• The One That Got Away: Peony and Wu Ren are this for each other.
• Unusual Euphemism: Sexual intercourse is contantly referred to as "clouds and rain."
• Virginity Makes You Stupid: Averted with Peony who, despite having died a maiden is able to help Ren and Tan Ze with their troublesome sex life using excerpts from an opera.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Tan Ze does this to Peony after she controls her body, forcing her to continue her commentary on The Peony Pavilion.