While it’s frustrating to see the way men treat women in this story, I’m glad they didn’t make the FL unrealistically rebellious. Sometimes period stories make the characters modern for a modern audience. Linhua understands her role and navigates it as practically as possible. Stories where the FL overthrows and reforms the whole system are nice too, but I also appreciate stories where the FL understands the reality of her time and culture (not that this is non-fiction, but we get the period referenced) and just does her best.
While it’s frustrating to see the way men treat women in this story, I’m glad they didn’t make the FL unrealistically rebellious. Sometimes period stories make the characters modern for a modern audience. Linhua understands her role and navigates it as practically as possible. Stories where the FL overthrows and reforms the whole system are nice too, but I also appreciate stories where the FL understands the reality of her time and culture (not that this is non-fiction, but we get the period referenced) and just does her best.