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- of manners and customs. Here, the atmosphere was more relaxed and less restricted than outside the confines of the district. The Yoshiwara recognized no class distinctions and money alone determined prestige. Within the Yoshiwara area, the low class merchants could escape government oppression by squandering their wealth on the enjoyment of sex and other amusements.
Impoverished parents often sold their daugh�ters to the brothel owners and pimps of the Yoshiwara, who put the young girls to work as prostitutes. The grades of prostitute varied from cheap streetwalkers to expensive and sophisticated courtesans. Some girls were trained from childhood to be fit consorts for wealthy patrons. The more capable ones were well educated and literate. They could speak the ancient poetic language and were well versed in the arts of music, poetry and painting. As well as being trained in the finer points of social etiquette, they were also capable of elevating the gratification of physical desire to an art.
The better courtesans were beautiful and accomplished ladies who were regarded as people of note. They wore the latest fashions and set the trends in feminine taste. The elite courtesans, known as tayu, were proud of their status, but the lesser courtesans were held against their will and led a miserable existence despite the gaiety and glamour of the Yoshi�wara area. Their only hope of escape from this degrading bondage was the possibility that a wealthy customer would fall in love with them and purchase their freedom.
The gorgeously dressed courtesans were a favourite subject for plays and ukiyo-e prints. Sometimes, the prints also showed the thoroughfares of the Yoshiwara district, its tea houses, pleasure boats and gardens as well as glimpses of the interiors of the area�s luxurious apartments. Prints and illustrated books advertising the leading brothels and the names, skills and attributes of a particular courtesan remained popular until 1842, when the authorities banned publications referring to prostitution. Prints of geisha, who were quite separate from the courtesans, were also popular. As professional entertainers, dancers and musicians, geisha were considered more respectable than the courtesans.
Also associated with the courtesans were
d�acteur. Les �diteurs de ces estampes sont all�s jusqu�� acheter les fauteuils des rang�es de devant aux premi�res de toute pi�ce nouvelle pour permettre aux artistes de produire des estampes � la page de l�actualit� th��trale. Les acteurs �taient tr�s sensibles � la pr�sence des artistes ukiyo-e dans la salle; ils assumaient des poses dramatiques dans le but d�attirer l�attention de l�artiste, et surtout dans l�espoir de se trouver immortalis� dans une estampe populaire.
Les estampes kabuki �taient tr�s demand�es, et de vastes quantit�s se vendaient en guise de publicit� pour les spectacles dans les boutiques et les kiosques avoisinants des th��tres. Pour l�auditoire, l�estampe servait � la fois de souvenir du spectacle et de pin-up de la vedette favorite, habill�e de costumes somptueux et merveilleusement maquill�e. Les acteurs se faisaient conna�tre par leurs poses exag�r�es et le mon (blason) qu�ils portaient souvent sur leur costume.
Les courtisanes du Yoshiwara ou du quartier r�serv� d�Edo (actuellement Tokyo) fournis�saient une autre source th�matique tr�s riche aux artistes ukiyo-e. Les maisons closes, appel�es maisons vertes, �taient le r�sultat naturel du syst�me d�sagr�able des mariages de convenance et de la condition subordonn�e de la femme dans la soci�t� f�odale d�Edo, sous la domination des guerriers. Puisque le jeune couple ne faisait connaissance pour la premi�re fois que lors de la c�r�monie de mariage, une liaison amoureuse entre le mari et la courtisane du Yoshiwara risquait fort de se produire. La femme et la famille commod�ment laiss�es � la maison, ces maris h�donistes et les courtisanes du Yoshiwara �taient libres d�acqu�rir leurs propres us et coutumes. L�, l�atmosph�re �tait plus d�tendue et moins contraignante qu�en dehors des limites du quartier. Le Yoshiwara ne reconnaissait aucune distinction sociale; seul l�argent �tait source de prestige. Au sein du Yoshiwara, les marchands de basse extraction �chappaient aux pressions gouvernementales en gaspillant des fortunes sur les plaisirs sexuels et autres.
Des parents appauvris vendaient souvent leur fille aux propri�taires des bordels et aux maquereaux du Yoshiwara, qui mettaient ces jeunes filles au travail comme prostitu�es. Les cat�gories de prostitu�es allaient des filles de la rue bon march� aux courtisanes co�teuses
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