본고는 김시습의 『금오신화(金鰲新話)』에 있는 다섯 편의 이야기 중 여성 주인공이 나오는 세 편의 이야기, 즉 「만복사저포기」, 「이생규장전」, 「취유부벽정기」에 주목하여, 한국 고전 문학 속 여성의 이미지를 살펴보자 하였다. 이 세 작품에 등장하는 여성 주인공들은 인생에서 중요한 결정을 해야 하는 순간 ‘남성’이라는 존재에게 의존하지 않고 주도적으로 행동하며, 인간으로서의 존엄성을 지켜내고자 ‘정절’을 주체적으로 선택하는 여성들이기 때문이다. 이런 모습은 유교 가부장주의 아래 속박되어 구속받은, 그래서 남성중심주의 사고관의 피해자 혹은 수동적인 존재로 얘기되는 기존의 ‘전통적 여성상’과는 대조적인 모습이다. 그래서 우선 필자는 이들이 중대사에 직면해 보여주는 적극적이고 주도적인 태도에 주목하였다. 그런 다음 자신의 신념과 굳은 의지로 죽음 앞에서도 전혀 굴하지 않는 위엄있고 절도있게 정절을 선택하는 여성의 모습을 찾아볼 수 있었다. 뿐만 아니라 이 여성들이 사회 제도적 장치 하에서도 비교적 수평적 관계에 있었음을 알 수 있는데, 후반부에서는 조선 전기까지 남아있던 남귀여가혼과 균분상속이라는 프리즘을 통해 이 세 작품에 나타나는 사회 제도적 측면을 분석하였다. 이 소설이 쓰여진 시기는 15세기 후반으로 조선왕조가 세워진 지 얼마되지 않은 때였다. 다시 말해 조선 사회에 유교이념이 깊이 뿌리박고 가부장적 제도가 확립되기 전이므로 이 작품에는 조선후기의 수동적인 이미지의 여성과는 다른 모습의 여성들이 묘사되어 있다고 볼 수 있다. 그래서 조선후기와 다른 시기, 그리고 남성의 그늘에 가려져 있는 것이 아니라 여성으로서 인간답게 사랑하고, 떳떳하게 살아가는 한국 여성의 이미지에 주목하는 일은 아직도 조선후기의 ‘전통적 여성’ 이미지에서 크게 벗어나지 못하는 연구자들에게 새로운 시각을 던져줄 수 있다는 점에서 의미가 있을 것이라 본다.
This paper focuses on the female protagonists of three stories [‘Manboksa chŏp’o ki’, ‘Yi-saeng kyujang chŏn’ and ‘Ch’wiyu pubyŏkchŏngki’], among the five tales in Kim Si-sup’s Geumosinhwa(金鰲新話), and examines the image of women in Korean literature. The interest in the female protagonists appearing in these three stories stems from the fact that they do not rely on the ‘man’ at the moment they have to make important decisions in their life, but act proactively and choose a ‘chastity’ to protect their dignity as human beings. This appearance is in contrast to the existing ‘traditional female image’, which portrays woman as a victim or a passive existence of male-centered thinking, bound and restrained under Confucian patriarchalism. So, first of all, I paid attention to the active and leading attitude that they show in the face of important events. Then, I tackle the topic of the dignified women who did not submit at all, even in the face of death, rather than keeping their chastity due to compulsion. Furthermore, it can be seen that these women were in a relatively horizontal relationship with men, even under the social institutional device, in the lens of matrilocal marriage and the equality of inheritance. This novel was written less than a century after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty, before Confucian ideology was deeply rooted in Joseon society and the patriarchal system was established. So it could be said that in this work we can find different women who live dignified lives and feels love like human beings rather than being overshadowed by men. I think it will be meaningful in that it can throw a new perspective to whom is used to think about Korean women as passive tools in the hands of men during the Joseon Dynasty.
This paper focuses on the female protagonists of three stories [‘Manboksa chŏp’o ki’, ‘Yi-saeng kyujang chŏn’ and ‘Ch’wiyu pubyŏkchŏngki’], among the five tales in Kim Si-sup’s Geumosinhwa(金鰲新話), and examines the image of women in Korean literature. The interest in the female protagonists appearing in these three stories stems from the fact that they do not rely on the ‘man’ at the moment they have to make important decisions in their life, but act proactively and choose a ‘chastity’ to protect their dignity as human beings. This appearance is in contrast to the existing ‘traditional female image’, which portrays woman as a victim or a passive existence of male-centered thinking, bound and restrained under Confucian patriarchalism. So, first of all, I paid attention to the active and leading attitude that they show in the face of important events. Then, I tackle the topic of the dignified women who did not submit at all, even in the face of death, rather than keeping their chastity due to compulsion. Furthermore, it can be seen that these women were in a relatively horizontal relationship with men, even under the social institutional device, in the lens of matrilocal marriage and the equality of inheritance. This novel was written less than a century after the establishment of the Joseon Dynasty, before Confucian ideology was deeply rooted in Joseon society and the patriarchal system was established. So it could be said that in this work we can find different women who live dignified lives and feels love like human beings rather than being overshadowed by men. I think it will be meaningful in that it can throw a new perspective to whom is used to think about Korean women as passive tools in the hands of men during the Joseon Dynasty.