본문 바로가기
  • Home
Basic Search

The Aspects and Meanings of Prejudice in Yussi samdae-rok -Focusing on the Cases of the Daughters-in-Law-

  • The Research of the Korean Classic
  • 2025, (71), pp.311~338
  • Publisher : The Research Of The Korean Classic
  • Research Area : Humanities > Korean Language and Literature > Korean Literature > Korean classic prose
  • Received : October 21, 2025
  • Accepted : November 20, 2025
  • Published : November 30, 2025

Hwang Ji Hyun 1

1성균관대학교

Accredited

ABSTRACT

This study investigates the manifestations and functions of prejudice in the late Joseon Korean classical novel Yussi samdae-rok (The Three Generations of the Yu Family), focusing on the representation of daughters-in-law. During the Joseon period, women’s social positions shifted through marriage as they left their family and entered those of their husbands. Their success in adapting to these new environments determined the course of their lives. This study examines how prejudice—formed and perpetuated in these processes—affected women’s acceptance or exclusion within the patriarchal family system. The analysis centers on two characters, Jang Hye-aeng and Seol Cho-byeok, both of whom enter the Yu family as second wives and occupy marginal positions. The family’s evaluations of them arise from preconceptions based on prior information such as parental reputation, rumors, and regional background, which solidify into prejudice through initial encounters like wedding ceremonies and greetings. Jang Hye-aeng is branded as a “seductive woman,” while Seol Cho-byeok is dismissed as a “monster from the remote region,” each confronting distinct forms of bias. This study explores three dimensions of prejudice: its reinforcement through conformity and collective sharing, its influence on everyday life and interpersonal judgment, and its dissolution through acts of self-verification. Prejudice is shown to strengthen through hierarchical and generational dynamics—downward diffusion from elders in Jang Hye-aeng’s case and horizontal diffusion among sisters-in-law in Seol Cho-byeok’s. Initial prejudgments shape subsequent evaluations of behavior, with negative or positive first impressions determining whether similar actions are condemned or excused. Both characters eventually challenge and subvert these biases through self-proving actions. Ultimately, prejudice in Yussi samdae-rok operates as a social mechanism that upholds familial order and sets the boundaries between in-groups and out-groups. While women integrated into the in-group receive affirmation and protection, those excluded suffer unacknowledged pain. Although the novel presents women’s efforts as capable of overcoming prejudice, such a portrayal simultaneously erases the male household members’ responsibility, revealing the intense struggles women endured simply to sustain ordinary lives.

Statistics

  • 2 Viewed
  • 0 Downloaded

Tools

Issue List

Citation status

* References for papers published after 2024 are currently being built.

Basic Search Advanced Search