Part I: Ōgai’s Biographical Trilogy.
Biography in the Japanese Literary Tradition, 6–25.
Ōgai’s Retreat from Fiction, 26–38.
The Biographical Trilogy, 39–97.
The Biographical Quest, 98–167.
Notes to Part I, 168–96.

Part II: A Genealogy of Exemplary Lives: Characterization in Shibue Chūsai.
Chūsai: Personification of the Ideal, 201–16.
Io: Exemplary Wife and Mother, 217–50.
Kien: Friend and Colleague, 251–70.
Sadakata: The Samurai Ideal, 271–98.
Yutaka: The Prodigal Son and His Redemption, 299–319.
Tamotsu: The Good Son and His Troubled Career, 320–43.
Kuga: The Inheritress, 344–70.
Conclusion, 371–86.
Notes to Part II, 387–422.

Appendix A: Major Figures in Shibue Chūsai, 424–27.
Appendix B: Mori Ōgai: A Literary Chronology, 428–29.
Bibliography, 431–37.