In the film adaptation of Lust, Caution, the importance of sex is apparent. This is not
necessarily the case in Se, Jie. In Eileen Chang’s story, there is an interconnection between sex, death, and a
ring. This relationship is portrayed differently in Julia Lovell’s Lust, Caution. Viewing Eileen Chang as world
literature reveals similarities and differences between Se, Jie and Lust, Caution and their
different thematic emphases. This article explores how the imageries of the ring, sex, and death are interrelated. The transaction
involving the ring in Chang’s text is similar to a sexual transaction. Analyzing the difference between the source and the target
texts reveals how Lovell places a “heavier” emphasis on women’s bodies, suggesting the suppression women suffer in a patriarchal
society. While the thematic importance of death is also present in Lust, Caution, it is brought out by the notion
of foreignness and undecipherability.