Ep 7 An eye for an eye, a rumor for a rumor
Ostensibly the title refers to the campaign SoonDeok masterminded to quell the rumor about Hana being possessed by a virgin ghost. The rumor was circulated by Minister Park in retaliation for spurning his advances. He aimed to destroy Hana’s reputation and wreck her marriage chances. In retaliation then for this starting this malicious rumor, SoonDeok planned to:
a) reveal the truth about Park being the real murderer in a high-profile case,
b) disguise the truth as a rumor to engage the female population, and
c) circulate the rumor in a form of a new novel written by the best-selling author HwaRok aka SamSoon.
The goal of SoonDeok to mete out “an eye for an eye” is commonly known as the law of retaliation (“lex talionis”) whereby the retaliation is commensurate or equal to the crime.
Note 1: this concept of “an eye for eye” was codified in the Code of Hammurabi (c. 1700 BC) to end the practice of unjust and disproportionate punishment, e.g., two eyes for an eye, a life for an eye, three lives for an eye, etc.
Note 2: SoonDeok didn’t advocate for Park’s death as payback for the murder. She believed her mother-in-law, Lady SoHyun, who was also Park’s noonim, would know best how to deal with the situation, so she got Lady SoHyun involved. SoonDeok only wanted to handle the false rumors about Hana.
Now, I’m more interested in how this concept of “an eye for an eye” applied to the romance of our couple. I saw four ways.
1. A letter for a letter
He wrote her a letter, so he expected a letter in return. Here, it’s not so much retaliation, but reciprocation.
In the first letter, he wrote her this:
“Yeojudaek, take note of this. Thank you for working hard for this matchmaking. Therefore, I will withdraw my order, telling you to stay three steps away. Also, do not be too wary of me for the convenience of our operations.”
(I like that he drew a tree on the other side and perfumed his note. There’s a reversal of gender stereotypes here.)
In effect, he was asking her to revert to her normal self. Ironically enough, when she did act like her normal self, and ignored his letter, he became agitated. He quickly sent her a follow-up note to demand a response, using his illness as a pretext.
“I also get unprovoked palpitations when I have questions unanswered. So please reply to my opinion.”
Though I could relate to his excitement when he read her message, I thought the flowery language was a bit too much.
This was what he read later that evening, in the privacy of his home —
“I am sad without limits if you are asking because you do not know my feelings. Once you see this letter, please tell your feelings to the trees or the sky. I want to hear your words through the winds if I can.”
His confusion was palpable when he read the next line, “Cho Hui poured out her heart for her beloved.”
Only then did he realize that he was reading an extract from HwaRoc’s latest novel. I thought this was a hoot because SoonDeok’s actual message was terse and devoid of romance.
“I will take care of it. From Yeojudaek.”
This realization must have felt like a splash of cold water in her face.
JungWoo: Wait! She wrote just one sentence on the back of a scrap paper?!! She could have just told me all this in person! She got my hopes up for nothing by giving this to me.
But the romantic thing here was, despite being deeply disappointed by her pithy note and grousing about it, he still carefully stored the letter in a box (with the message facing up) and turned the box into a hard pillow for his head.
An eye for an eye, a letter for a letter.
It’s true that letters were exchanged. However, the letters didn’t carry the same importance to the senders and recipients. Clearly, JungWoo put more thought (or should I say “feelings”?) and effort into his letters than SoonDeok did.
And he saved her letter while she burned his.
But it was totally understandable why she burned his letters. For one, she was aware that she couldn’t entertain any illusions of romance being together. For another, it would be dangerous should her mother-in-law (or her spy) find the letters in her possession. The punishment for the “crime” of possessing these letters would be severe and extreme — or the opposite of “an eye for an eye.”
2. A name for a name
SoonDeok discovered his name already, and therefore, his identity. It was just fair that he learned her name, too.
JungWoo: What is your name?
SoonDeok: (no answer)
JungWoo: Do you not want to tell me? (shocked) By chance, do you not have a name?
SoonDeok: (smiling at his shocked expression) You are the first one to ever ask my name since I started working as a peddler.
JungWoo: (clearing his throat out of embarrassment) Think of it as an honor. I will ask you one more time. What is your name?
SoonDeok: My name is…Soon Deok.
JungWoo: Soon Deok. That is a pretty name. And your age?
SoonDeok: I am two years older than you, Your Excellency.
Jungwoo: Twenty-seven. But how did you know my age?
SoonDeok: Were you not born in the Year of the Black Monkey? (teasing him) You are a famous celebrity in Hanyang.
JungWoo: What? As the “Resentful Man”? That is not fair. I must know about you as well.
SoonDeok: Like what?
JungWoo: All of it.
SoonDeok: (pausing) For what? Once this matchmaking ends, we will never see each other again.
Three things I like about this interaction:
a. It showed that he fell in love with her despite their class differences and her malapropism.
Like this:
SoonDeok wasn’t illiterate; she could read and write Chinese characters. However, she admitted finding them difficult. For someone like Jungwoo, her word substitutions and spelling errors would be maddening. Yet, he was prepared to overlook them.
b. It showed that he fell in love with who she was.
He could see her faults, but he no longer saw them as hindrance to being together. He could see their differences, but he saw themselves as complementing each other.
Take for instance the time when she straightened his gat for him. He liked that she noticed that his gat was askew; it showed that she paid attention to details which he might have missed. Her being thorough was one of the qualities which he admired in her.
c. I like that the screenwriter wasn’t belaboring the “soulmates” angle with SoonDeok and JungWoo, like with the other side-plots. As Mrs. Maeng would point out in a later episode, SoonDeok and JungWoo weren’t soulmates; they had already married their soulmates.
And this is fine with me because I prefer to see them as life partners. Personally, I believe life partners trump soulmates.
Soulmates = emphasizes love based on “fate” and “feels.” And you know I don’t believe in those.
Life partners = conscious decision and commitment to love and be there for each other
3. A life for a life
JungWoo didn’t want SoonDeok to risk her life for the mission, so behind her back, he and the Guard/Orabeoni decided to replace SoonDeok in the staged arrest with JungWoo himself. He would step in and pretend to be HwaRok in SoonDeok’s place.
An eye for an eye; a life for a life. Despite not knowing how to swim, he risked his life for hers.
4. An eye for an eye
In the beginning of this episode, when JungWoo fainted, SoonDeok revived him by commanding him, “Your Excellency, please wake up. Keep your eyes on me.” She meant “keep your eyes on me” literally. She wanted him to fix his eyes on her and maintain eye contact until he regained his full senses.
When JungWoo fell off the cliff and into the river, he followed her orders again. He kept his eyes on her, metaphorically.
JungWoo: Looking back, I had already made up my mind then. To marry Yeojudaek.
He was drowning, but his thoughts were fixed on her, and focused on what he planned to do with SoonDeok after he got out of the waters. In his mind’s eye, he could imagine them having a life together in the future.
When he recounted the story later on, he knew this was the defining moment for him. Unlike when SoonDeok revived him in the beginning of this episode, he recognized — and had come to accept — that he had been fundamentally changed by his close encounters with her.
I like how the concept of “an eye for eye” came full circle, but with a different perception and understanding.
Good morning, @packmule3. Jungwoo’s ‘palpitations’ reply letter was written on paper decorated with daffodils. It could be symbolic, so I looked it up.
“What do daffodils symbolize in Korea?
Daffodils (March)
Daffodils belong to the Korean birth flowers that contain extra-ordinary meanings. Rumor says daffodils are often associated with mercy, truth, and sincerity. Daffodils are perfect for someone you want to apologize to since they symbolize forgiveness.” I remember being shocked that he didn’t burn her letter as she did his. As you say, it might seem immaterial, but we saw by the end of the drama just how much trouble a noble widow or a man married into royalty can get into if their names get linked.
I loved how the gat-straightening scene was done. Soon Deok, being a widow, is comfortable touching a man’s clothing. But you can see Jung Woo’s eyeballs shake. The camera goes right up into Soon Deok’s face, so we can see how close she is to Jung Woo and can understand why the ‘resentful (frustrated)’ man is affected. I really like these two actors together. They complement each other in a yin-yang way and I think they are really on point in this drama.
I have always wondered if it’s very uncomfortable to wear a gat. If a person fell down, the hat would either get bent and possibly very damaged, or it would skew over on the wearer’s head. I learned yesterday at a museum that the men’s headgear was made of woven horse hair, which didn’t show dirt or sweat.
I suppose adjusting a gat might be a gesture of extra-familiarity like, in today’s world, a woman adjusting a man’s tie. It doesn’t necessarily require romantic connection, but it does require close proximity that can potentially flame a spark.
@Packmule3, I got home yesterday from England, so I’ll try this week to catch up on my drama viewing and commenting.