Chunhyangjeon
Wolmae
Chunhyang's mother
Chunhyang's protective, outspoken mother, a retired kisaeng who fears that nobles always abandon women like her.
Wolmae is a retired kisaeng who lives in a house with a clay-and-stone gate, protective of her daughter's honor. She is pragmatic and expressive, with a strong voice and a sharper tongue, and she knows how the world treats women of her rank.
When Mongryong calls at her gate at night, she is surprised and skeptical, asking what brings a nobleman there after dark. She is moved by his sincerity and lets him in, but she never stops worrying. Her suspicion is the product of experience, and her love for Chunhyang runs through every scene she is in. She wants her daughter safe and respected, and she is willing to argue, plead, and bribe to protect her.
“Noble scholars are all the same! You pluck the flower, and when duty calls, you toss the petals to the wind!”
In the story
Contains spoilers.
After Mongryong tells her of his marriage plans, Wolmae opens the door, and later offers the young couple sweet wine. When he announces that he must go to Hanyang, she erupts, saying that noble scholars pluck the flower and toss the petals to the wind. Chunhyang calms her.
When Byeon's runners come for her daughter, Wolmae pleads for mercy, and later bribes a jailer to bring food and herbs to the cell. She prays at the shrine for her daughter and for Mongryong's safe return, and she collapses when he appears as a beggar. At the end she celebrates that her son-in-law is the Royal Inspector and her daughter is saved.
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