『계축일기』 속 궁녀와 생욕(生慾)의 서사

Abstract

“Gyechukilgi”(癸丑日記), or “Diary Written in the Gye-chuk Year,” revolves around the appearance of the court ladies in the confrontation between King Gwanghae and Queen Inmok. It is the story of “Gechukoksa”(癸丑獄事), a re-reconstructed from the logic of the winner after “Injobanjung”(仁祖反正). “Gyechukilgi” has a political character, being biased toward a certain party faction. It is important to note that the court ladies shown in the text are exceptional in their confrontational stance, which is defined as good or evil depending on their political position. In this paper, analysis was conducted based on non-formal individual characters who were unable to distinguish between good and evil in the behavior among the court ladies featured in “Gyechukilgi.” Court ladies are defined as either good or evil depending on their relationship with Queen Inmok. However, the so-called "good" and "bad" conduct is related to the desire to survive, which is concealed and distorted in the narrative. Court ladies are very political personalities, greatly influenced by the way they serve in the political space. But “Gyechukilgi” shows the real purpose of living in this group of political figures. It also reveals the reality of court ladies as weak people who are easily victimized in partisan strife through the words of Queen Inmok and typical loyalist Byun Sang-goong. As such, “Gyechukilgi” describes a variety of court ladies as good or evil in the confrontation between King Gwanghae and Queen Inmok, but it can be re-read as the text of a desire to survive as it reveals that they are human beings pursuing the desire to stay alive.