ABSTRACT
Shimamura is a critic of the Western ballet, an art form which he has never seen and possibly will never see. Yet he has chosen this subject precisely because it is unrelated to his life, so that he can escape from the sense of wastefulness of his endeavors in life and art. Shimamura, like Komako, is nothing but a powerless being before the inevitable corruption – the all-consuming power of death – which negates life completely. The recognition of this force of annihilation renders Shimamura incapable of acting and living vigorously with hope. Komako, through her love for Shimamura, comes to experience the terror of hoping, of attachment to life, and becomes aware of the possibility of her mental corruption. She emerges as the essence of passion for life. Rather, for Shimamura, art is an expression of man's consciousness of his own alienation and of man's aspiration for unity.
