Act 1, Scene 1

Lee Mu-young’s “Act I, Scene I” tells the story of Sutaek, a writer who leaves his city life behind to create a new life for himself as a farmer in the countryside. Through this transformation, he comes to reconcile with his father, a man of the soil who rails against the “city folk” for placing their self-interests and material comforts over the ethics of neighborly love and hard work. Sutaek also finds new inspiration for writing in the process of becoming a proper farmer. A work within the subgenre of agrarian literature, “Act I, Scene I” can also be read within the context of the Asia-Pacific War. The war and the total mobilization of society under the Japanese empire at this time, can be read in both the various details and the overall messages embodied in the text.