A common dream of the Himegimi (daughters of persons of high rank) in those days was to enter the Kokyu (a section of the Imperial Palace where the Imperial family and court ladies lived) and gain the love of the Mikado (Emperor), thus being elevated to Empress; accordingly, "The Tale of Genji" satisfied such ladies as it had as its protagonist a member of the Genji clan who was a direct descendant of the emperor that lived in a kind of pseudo-Kokyu and loved all women without distinction. The work was also welcomed by court nobles as an appealing work that offered a close observation of human psychology, love, and aesthetics.
当時の一般的な上流貴族の姫君の夢は、後宮に入り帝の寵愛を受け皇后の位に上ることであったが、『源氏物語』は、帝直系の源氏の者を主人公にし彼の住まいを擬似後宮にしたて女君たちを分け隔てなく寵愛するという内容で彼女たちを満足させ、あるいは人間の心理や恋愛、美意識に対する深い観察や情趣を書きこんだ作品として貴族たちにもてはやされたのである。