Both men and women fall victim to his charms but Yuichi himself is often manipulated as well. He's vain and self-centered, but he also has an air of naivety and innocence about him. However, I did find his portrayal to be much more sympathetic.

Yuichi, despite being loved by all, isn't a particularly pleasant person, either. Mishima has very deliberately created a distasteful character who at the same time is enthralling in his extremes. It is necessary and important as the story's catalyst. His anti-women rhetoric can be difficult to take, but without it the plot of Forbidden Colors would never go anywhere. Yuichi will have a perfect cover allowing him the freedom to explore his sexuality-no one would suspect a married man and a womanizer to have male lovers-and Shunsuke will have the revenge he so greatly desires. The agreement is advantageous for both men. They may fall in love with him, but he will never love them in return. In exchange, Yuichi promises Shunsuke to make the women he seduces miserable. Shunsuke is willing to assist Yuichi in hiding his secret by helping to arrange his marriage and to develop a reputation as a philanderer.

Yuichi has come to realize that he loves men and is tormented by what that means living in a society which doesn't accept homosexuality. Seeking revenge, he enters into a peculiar arrangement with a beautiful young man by the name of Yuichi Minami. I've been slowly making my way through all of his material available in English, but I was particularly interested in reading Forbidden Colors.Īfter being betrayed time and again the aging author Shunsuke Hinoki has developed an intense hatred of women.

In addition to being my introduction to Japanese literature, Mishima and his works fascinate me. Also like Confessions of a Mask, and many of Mishima's other works, Forbidden Colors contains some autobiographical elements. Like Mishima's earlier novel Confessions of a Mask, Forbidden Colors deals with prominent homosexual themes, although the two works approach the material in vastly different ways. The English translation of Forbidden Colors by Alfred H. The first eighteen chapters were compiled in 1951 while the collection with the final fourteen chapters was published in 1953. In Japan, Yukio Mishima's novel Forbidden Colors was released in two parts.

Forbidden Colors by Yukio Mishima