Read the passage carefully. When I make myself imagine what it is like to be one of those women who live at home, faithfully serving their husbands—women who have not a single exciting prospect in life yet who believe that they are perfectly happy—I am filled with scorn. Often they are of quite good birth, yet have had no opportunity to find out what the world is like. I wish they could live for a while in our society, even if it should mean taking service as Attendants, so that they might come to know the delights it has to offer.
–The Pillow Book,
Sei Shōnagon
How does this passage support the author’s credibility?
1. Sei Shōnagon can imagine the lives of women who live at home.
2. Sei Shōnagon can imagine what the imperial court is like.
3. Sei Shōnagon wishes that all women could experience life within the palace.
4. Sei Shōnagon lives in the imperial court and can describe life there.