In the Tale of Genji, we meet a Japanese prince by the name of Genji who over time, developed several relationships with the women of his village. These relationships were developed through his use of charm, his royal status and his good looks to pry into their hearts. These three characteristics he used depicted his dominance over women not only because he's a male but also because he was a prince. He used his dominance to mistreat the women both physically and mentally. He totally mistreated them by failing to be committed to one woman, to understand their feelings, and using them to satisfy his needs. However, much of what Genji has done to these women is influenced by the culture of the time, the Heian Period.
During the Heian Period, men were allowed to marry several women and in addition could have secret affairs with "both occasional and live-in lovers- (Pekarik 219).This may not seem to be a big issue because the women in the story were expected to overlook many things, including affairs; it is unknown if the women expected the same from men. Although men could practice polygamy, they were to be married to women of the same social status. Pekarik's example was that "the daughter of an emperor would properly be the object of a formal marriage- (219). In other words it would be a bad idea to marry someone of lower status than you. In addition to polygamy, secret romances were best suitable for noblewomen of middle rank or class. Other women of lower class would not be expected to have no more than just live-in lovers, most likely husbands. However this practice is contradicted by another author, Royall Tyler.
Royall Tyler, author of Marriage, Rank and Rape in The Tale of Genji stated that the "law code in nominal force in the time of this tale allowed a man only one wife- which is the opposite of the Heian Period. He also stated that this practice was stretched to allow men to obtain lesser wives and bear children with them.