드라마 <원녀일기>에 나타난 고전소설 리텔링 방식과 공감과 위안의 서사

초록

The Spinster Diary is a drama depicting love and marriage for today’s single women, based on themes explored in classical novels. In this tale, Kongjui, Chunhyang, and Shimcheong, three women representing the heroines of classical stories, inhabit the “old maid” role in their village. Here, a classical story is retold, creating a new story out of conventional themes frequently reproduced in past dramas-namely, love and marriage. The Spinster Diary, in particular, converts familiar stories into new ones by converging their themes into a single story that unfolds within the same setting. The story converts and retells several classical novel themes to create a love triangle of high tension, altering the simple man-woman relationships prevalent in classical novels. By overturning old values and norms, it shows how the values of today’s women have changed. The Spinster Diary focuses on the process of revealing, and satisfying, its characters’ deficiencies. Chunhyang, the daughter of a single mother, ugly Kongjui, and poor Shimcheong represent today’s single women. Although they experience conflict, and worry over realistic issues such as physical appearance, social status, and economic stability, they eventually overcome their dependencies on men and grow into women leading independent lives. In this drama, however, the main characters’ changes and personal growth do not reject and dismantle the male-centric order. They refuse to be Cinderella to meet men’s standards；they do not deny Cinderella herself. Their growth stems from men’s choices and romantic love, indicating that, to a certain degree, the drama still compromises on the male-dominant hegemony. The Spinster Diary reflects the dilemmas of modern women torn between realistic issues and ideal love. Today’s women want to fulfill their love lives according to their own independent decisions, but reality asks them to recognize and compromise on the male-dominant order. Unmarried women need stories like The Spinster Diary, which sympathizes with them and provides comfort in difficult situations. In this sense, the drama functions as a fantasy to comfort modern women in the midst of their personal struggles.

키워드