Grandma has insight

[sandy]

Who could see Grandma talking about her past and not feel for her? From her past, it's very obvious that she stayed with her straying husband, so the truth may come out that Min-Sup is the adopted son between her husband and "Red Fox". The Ex staying with them brings back memories. It seems that Grandma wasn't able to have children, which gives her a special connection to Jae-Hae, her comatose grand-daughter. Grandma has so many secrets to tell, but her family sees her efforts to tell them as dementia. Perhaps they don't want to learn the truth, but pretend that everything is all right. Maybe they're afraid of the truth.

[toranaga]

from the bits and pieces that grandma has let slip it is fairly evident that...

1)min-sup is not her "BIO"son
2)her husbands family did not treat her well.
3)the mistress died very young.
4)grandma knew the mistress and was mean to her.
5)grandma was forced to endure this infidelity.
6)she hated the mistress in life but pitied her in death.
7)her husband died young.

think grandma's story must be a fairly typical one,at least years ago when an infertile woman either was thrown out with nothing or forced to tolerate an affair.

[hachiue]

Maybe her husband and his mistress committed "lover's suicide". (There's a specific korean term for that supposedly but I don't remember it. Does anyone know it?)

That would make sense because if they did so then she didn't have any closure on their relationship and also knew that she would never come first to her husband.

Just wondering - back in the day, why would his family have treated her bad? The parents chose the match, not the children, so they should've been happy with it? Unless they blamed her for her husband's affair. Then again, he probably was having this "affair" since before he was married, the girl probably just wasn't good enough for the parents to let him marry her.

[Lucy]

Just wondering - back in the day, why would his family have treated her bad? The parents chose the match, not the children, so they should've been happy with it?

My guess is that they blamed her for not being able to have children and felt that they got a bad bargain.

So, the mistress was Red Fox (NOT the comedian [Redd Foxx] apparently, ha-ha). She's got to be the one in the picture who looks exactly like Jee-hae. I suppose Min-sup was the child of Grandma's husband and the mistress, which is why Jee-hae looks like her. Identical grandmother and granddaughter? If Patty and Cathy could be "identical cousins" on the Patty Duke Show*, why not?

*oldster reference

[jenny]

Lucy said:

My guess is that they blamed her for not being able to have children and felt that they got a bad bargain.

So, the mistress was Red Fox (NOT the comedian [Redd Foxx] apparently, ha-ha).

Oh, no! ;D I never put 2 and 2 together! Now I'm going to crack up every time she says, "Red Fox!" ;D

And I got the Patty Duke reference. Nick at Nite.

[panther]

i was just wondering if maybe grandmoms husband took on his mistress as a second wife? i was watching the joy luck club and saw how the chinese practiced polygamy back in the day and was wondering if koreans did it too

[Soju]

I wonder if Min-sup's birthmother was related to the family of another character. Maybe Min-sup is Mr. Park's half-brother? Young-lan's second cousin? The possibilities are almost endless.

[TheBo]

There is a nonsubtitled show (I think it had none) on KBC that goes to old people and tells their history with "flashbacks" (really re-enactments). One lady told of how she was unable to have children, even though she became pregnant a couple of times. She kept losing the baby because even though the doctor told her to rest; she had to work because they were land peasants.

So, apparently, they needed sons and could not get any. They got one child somehow, but the child died as a toddler. Then, the MIL brings in a woman who is obviously fertile, because she has one son. The husband (who obviously loves his wife but listens to his mother) takes the woman as a sort of concubine, and has a child with her. The wife resents her and the child (especially as she miscarried at the same time), until one day, the concubine puts the infant into the wife's arms and tells her, you're the mother. (I don't know how I knew this. It was well acted.) The concubine and wife become great friends, and the children (4 or 5 of them) all come to regard the wife as their mother. I think the concubine dies; time passes and the sons all become educated, and become doctors etc. They show scenes of the big happy family, and the wife is totally revered and respected as the matriarch.

This was a true story. The point is, I think at that time, some women were oppressed by the family demanding an heir at any cost, but obviously, some people were able to work within this system. The concubine needed someone to take her and her son in (I think she was a widow); the wife and her husband needed sons to work their land and take care of them in old age. Min-sup obviously loves his "mother" and she has developed maternal feelings for him. I don't think it turned out too badly for her.

Bo

[sandy]

This is a really interesting true story about the wife and the concubine. This still goes on today in poor countries where sons are needed to carry on the family name, work the family business, and take care of elderly parents.

However, it's just sad that women are placed in this position of bearing sons. With every pregnancy, they must fear that a female child will be born. The fathers love their daughters, but still feel short-changed because they didn't have sons. Often, it's an "ego" thing about producing strong male heirs.

Grandma is on the verge of telling Jae-Hae her secret, and only her because she is infertile. Jae-Hae is young, but will be burdened with the secret that her father was taken in by Grandma. Knowing "the secret" will haunt Jae-Hae until her father dies. Maybe Grandma will tell Jae-Hae to be prepared to face a lonely life with Jae-Min, or to adopt this baby. I'm just waiting for the next few episodes.

[BAE]

okay... so grandma finally tells jee-hae the story... but, why does jee-hae dismiss it as a dream? does she think grandma is dillusional when talking about her past. i mean, it would explain why jee-was called a "slu~" and "w%$#@" and a "red fox."

[toranaga]

I think that jee-hae was trying to comfort halmoni,that's why she told her that it was just a dream,but of course they both know that the story is true.
the fertility problems that jee-hae experienced must have overwhelmed halmoni,that has to be why her behaviour was so erratic.How could she endure the unendurable for so long without losing her sanity.

I may be wrong but it seems to me that MPC is pointing an accusatory finger at the treatment of women in korean society and it's effects on women and their families.I really think that the purpose of the daily dramas is to promote a change in the way women and are viewed.all the women in this drama are strong and confident even jung-hee,she is quiet yet sturdy.
and if younglan isn't the perfect example of a career woman,she is smart,attractive,confident and independent and doesn't need any help with anything and still manages to stay sexy at the same time.