차범석의 희곡 손탁호텔과 미시마 유키오의 희곡 녹명관(鹿鳴舘)에는 서양으로부터 근대 문물을 수용해 가면서 변화한 젠더의 양상이 나타나 있고 이와 동시에 여 주인공들의 리더십이 잘 드러나 있다.
손탁은 러시아 공사 웨벨의 처제이지만 한 번도 정치적으로 말려들지 않는 공정무사한 자세를 취하며 민족 사상이 투철하고 사업가적 수완이 뛰어나며 사교적이다. 정치와 가까이 있지만 늘 정치적 중립을 지키려고 균형을 잡고 있으며, 현주실에게는 남성들이 구축한 사회가 아닌 스스로가 당당히 설 수 있는 자신에 찬 여성, 신념의 여성이 될 수 있도록 롤모델이 되어주기도 한다. 남성중심주의적 권력질서에 저항하고 그런 권력 관계의 변화를 이끌어가는 것을 지향하는 여성주의 리더십의 면모가 나타나면서도 구성원들의 참여를 독려하고 위축된 집단 내 분위기를 용기로 북돋아 자신감을 부여하기도 하는 여성적 리더십의 양상도 드러내고 있다.
아사코는 인간관계 속에서 자신의 위치에서 균형잡힌 리더십을 발휘하고 있으며 아키코가 믿고 의지하는 정신적 지주이자 멘토로서의 역할을 수행한다는 점에서 리더적 기질이 잘 나타난다. 또한 자신의 이익을 실현시키기 위해 정부세력과 결탁한 권위 층에 적대적 자세를 취하며 녹명관 무도회에 참석하지 않는 소신을 내세워 주체적 삶을 영위하는 인물이기도 하다. 하지만 기요하라 부자의 참상이라는 불화의 싹을 자르기 위해 전 남편 기요하라를 설득하고 아들 히사오를 위해 희생하는 모습에서 모성애를 바탕으로 한 리더십의 모습이 돋보인다. 비록 현재 남편인 가게야마의 방해와 계략으로 불행한 최후를 맞지만 아사코는 이혼을 요구할 만큼 개화기 여성으로 마지막까지 자신의 의지에 따라 삶을 영위해 갔고, 타인의 삶에도 많은 영향을 끼친다. 그리고 그 리더십은 인간관계 속의 균형 잡기, 네크워크 구축과 계획적인 멘토링, 정치적 기술이라는 양상으로 발현되고 있으며 결과적으로 여성주의 리더십, 여성적 리더십 모두를 엿볼 수 있다.
Cha, Bum-seok’s play Sontag Hotel and Yukio Mishima’s Rokumeikan both illustrate the then tendencies in common at the turn of the twentieth century of changing gender role of women in society as they became exposed to – accordingly started actively receiving – modern cultures and cultural artefacts from the West, and which are made further manifest, in particular, through the leadership shown by their respective female protagonists, Sontag and Asako, in the plays.
In spite of her as the sister-in-law of Russia’s consul general to Korea, Karl Ivanovich Weber, Sontag not only maintains her shrewd “fair and balanced” posture at all times without being politically dragged into any internal affairs whatsoever, but is also patriotic, entrepreneurial and sociable. She always tries to remain as politically impartial as she can, her given close proximity to (and connection with) the politics notwithstanding. Therefore, Sontag is, sometimes, inspirational to Hyun, Ju-sil as a role model she is eager to take in her future attempt to challenge the extant androcentric society as a result of which to be able to become an independent woman with confidence and conviction. In brief, the type of leadership Cha, Bum-seok’s Sontag Hotel ultimately shows through its female protagonist is largely two-fold: (1) her feminist leadership earned by leading positive changes in male-dominated partriarchal power structure through resistance, and (2) her feminine leadership earned by endeavoring to facilitate the participation of members of society and to reinvigorate the society as a whole, all through suppport and encouragement.
Asako in Yukio Mishima’s Rokumeikan is found to show her “leadership” characteristic in terms that she plays an influential role as Akiko’s most trusted and reliable mentor, as well as that she within her own capacities greatly exercises in a balanced manner her leadership in her overall relationships with others. In addition, in light not only of her critical, defiant stance taken towards the elitist groups that strategically forged their close connections with the inner circle of the government authorities for the former to be able to materialize and leverage their own interests out of the latter’s political clout, but also of her conviction not to take part in any parties and balls held in Rokumeikan, a historically contested architectural icon of Japan’s Westernization in the Meiji period, Asako can also be appraised as an independent woman with conviction who is capable of leading her life on her own. At the same time, however, her motherhood-based feminine leadership style is also detectable in the play, considering that she tries to persuade her ex-husband, Kiyohara, and sacrifices herself for the sake of her son, Hisao, in order to root out the principal cause of the Kiyoharas’ misery. Although her life ends up miserably after all on account of her current husband the Count Kageyama’s interference and strategem, Asako, nevertheless, does not abandon her life-time commitment to continuing to lead till the end her life according to her will as a self-determined modern woman who is enlightened (and progressive) enough to be able to request him a divorce, quite rare for most women in that period to do so; such her deeds and lifetyles thus lead to having a positive effect on many others’ as well. And her leadership shown in the play is later realized and represented in the forms of the capabilities of balancing in human relationship, networking, systematic metoring and political skills, following which both feminist and feminine styles of leadership all can be observed.