# Illusion and Reality in Plays

> Theme guide for Plays by Zeami Motokiyo.

The boundary between dream and waking, vision and truth, is deliberately blurred—as in Nishikigi, where the priest witnesses a ghostly reenactment and questions whether it is illusion, and in Suma Genji, where the woodcutter reveals himself as a spirit, prompting reflection on the nature of existence.

## Where it surfaces

- [Act II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_2_se/chapters/act-ii): The Yamauba discusses the delusion of human life and the equivalence of good and wrong, suggesting that perception shapes reality. Her own form is a mix of the terrifying and the divine.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_2_se/themes/illusion_and_reality
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/plays_2_se/themes