koreanlit1-5, Exercise 2: Chunhyangjeon

Model answer:

Plot: (1) Yi Mongryong, a magistrate's son, falls for Chunhyang, a gisaeng's daughter, and they marry. (2) He leaves with his father for the capital; Chunhyang waits faithfully. (3) The new magistrate, Byeon Hakdo, orders her to serve him as a gisaeng; she refuses and is imprisoned. (4) Mongryong passes the state examination, becomes a secret royal inspector, returns in disguise, exposes Byeon at his birthday banquet, and the lovers are reunited.

Themes: class (the story crosses social barriers; common readers may have enjoyed seeing a powerful official punished) and fidelity (Chunhyang keeps her integrity, linked to traditional Korean moral values).

Link: the tale is based on the pansori Chunhyangga, "the most famous of the five surviving pansori tales".
Author and date: the author is unknown; the present form "took shape between 1694 and 1834". The article carries a 2023 tag saying it may need rewriting.

Source: Wikipedia, Chunhyangjeon.