... and Ko no Moronao, historical characters of the fourteenth century, stand in for Asano and Kira, respectively, and the ronin are introduced under slightly altered names. Oishi, for instance, is called Oboshi Yuranosuke. The first four acts, which culminate in Hangan's suicide, have an ironic twist...

... and several of the main characters in the Chushingura. En'ya Hangan and Ko no Moronao, historical characters of the fourteenth century, stand in for Asano and Kira, respectively, and the ronin are introduced under slightly altered names. Oishi, for instance, is called Oboshi Yuranosuke. The first four acts...

.... But they do emphasize the character of the speaker or describe an action. After Ishido's line that ends " . . . I shall report what I have seen," (p. 72), the part that is missing, "I feel for you in your grief, Yuranosuke" underlines the sympathetic nature of Ishido's character. After Yuranosuke's "Thank you...