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That’s how I felt reading Age of Arrogance. On surface, this concept is exciting as it introduces a lot of things that aren’t taken seriously in this genre of manhwa. However, it is exactly for that reason that when I feel it could’ve been executed better in different aspects I notice it more.
I’m going to be comparing this webtoon to Emperor And The Female Knight. A webtoon that has its issues but I think accomplishes far better what Age of Arrogance does. However, that webtoon has the benefit of being finished so keep that in mind.
For one, there’s an obvious angle of class and gender commentary here that I think is sorely ignored in most shoujo isekai set in these time periods simply because it would shatter escapism. It’s a lot more interesting reading these female characters and understanding that the way society is set up forces them to maneuver through this feudal patriarchy in different ways. Especially ones not so lucky as Asha, and while that might seem like a stretch.
These aspects reflect the real modern periods of their time, how nobility often uses its noble women like social currency (chattle) and the forced marriages upkeep the status and illusion of nobility. These women cannot rule through any means but their sons and thus are valued solely by what their wombs can produce, which makes the king’s decision to force Asha into a marriage in order to provide for her land far from just being a liar but rather a cruel essentialist punishment that devalues her efforts in order to put her in place (Because heterosexual marriage as it’s traditionally been practiced in this time period was not compatible with women’s social equality.)
The treatment of women here and how the women internalize that for themselves becomes glaringly obvious, from the Empress mother— to the ambitious blonde — to the mistress who is desperately trying to conceive in order to secure her life and longevity. In many ways, Asha, although unable to escape this, is considerably luckier than them.
Her situation and family had given her avenue to seek solace in violence and warfare and those are aspects men not only idolize but romanticize for themselves. It allows Asha to hold a level of agency that the others cannot have. However, this is not all glittering gold as Asha is scoffed and dehumanized by nobility solely for not adhering to the patriarchal standards here, not practicing high femininity as the others and thus lost in the middle of not being womanly enough nor manly enough.
And it is this aspect that conceptually I do like but executed I cannot hide my dissatisfaction. While all these aspects are present in the story, it’s hard to say with how much sincerity the narrative takes these issues. It’s not finished so my opinion can change but from what I’ve seen so far is a bit tepid.
For example, in appearance, I would’ve loved that if this commentary of Asha being so different was true then visually that would match. Asha for the most part doesn’t look much different from the women of the cast outside of attire and I would’ve loved if there was more distinctive traits. She’s a warrior so a bigger, toned build would’ve been amazing, maybe some scars light or deep that show her strength and resilience, and maybe less grace when it came to being feminine— she picks that up quite easily.
There are multiple moments in the story so far where Asha is feminized far more than her usual preferences and the story treats it as either her being stunning, a diamond in the rough, or comical— which goes against Asha’s own preferences. It would be one thing if Asha was fine with all this and actually enjoyed switching back and forth between high and low maintenance femininity but she makes it vocal multiple times that she actually dislikes it and finds it uncomfortable. So for the narrative to insist upon it means there’s going to be an obvious progression of Asha being more feminine assimilation.
This is something the FL in The Emperor and The Female Knight experienced as well but the approach was different. The FL isn’t continuously forced into femininity and she doesn’t assimilate fully, she is proud of how she looks and the ML who is the emperor finds that when she’s in that element to be her most beautiful. There is a specific scene about how Lucius the Emperor dislikes how the painter beautifies Paulina the FL because it’s not accurate to what she looks like, and it’s not the woman he is marrying. That’s such a small but significant statement. Paulina is not opposed to femininity as she does wear dresses but there’s a comfortability to it because she is not forced by the cast nor the narrative. It is all about her agency and I wish Asha could be afforded that same step. Instead, a lot of it feels like she’s forced into performing high femininity, because that’s what a lot of this is for women of that period— performing. If you sit in a seat spending hours putting on makeup and clothes how is that not laborious?
The scene of Asha at war is obviously her in her element and it entices the prince just as much. I would’ve loved more of that angle.
Asha reminds me a lot like Brienne and I would’ve loved to see that angle with her character more from her.
Another aspect is class commentary here, and it does go hand in hand with gender commentary. I think I’ll wait to make any comments on that until we get more chapters!
Unfortunately, I’m running out of time here but read The Emperor and The Female Knight if you want to see this done more faithfully!