ISSUES IN THE AFTERLIFE IN PEONY IN LOVE BY LISA SEE AND MISS CHRISTINA BY MIRCEA ELIADE
ISSUES IN THE AFTERLIFE IN PEONY IN LOVE BY LISA SEE AND MISS CHRISTINA BY MIRCEA ELIADE

Summary/Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to draw a comparison between the situations of the young female ghosts in the novel “Peony in Love” by Lisa See and in the short story “Miss Christina” by Mircea Eliade. The comparison of issues of the afterlife and of falling in love will be considered across two cultures, namely Chinese culture for Lisa See’s novel and Romanian culture for Mircea Eliade’s short story. Both deal with folk beliefs regarding traditional customs for young, restless souls that have never, actually, satisfied their love. What is more, a soul can become restless when the proper burial rituals are not followed, even if only accidentally, by the family. Two young girls turn into ghosts in both stories and haunt the living, to the point where the living become very scared. While, usually, we tend to believe that Asian and European cultures can be extremely different, this comparison can show how strikingly similar these cultures can be. The phenomenon of ghosts that have never gone through the usual life experiences and which haunt the living could even be considered universal. This is one reason why the novel by Lisa See can be successful and have many readers even in European cultures, as readers can sympathize easily with the characters and identify universal age-old folk beliefs.

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