The King and I Essay | Critical Essay #1

The King and I Critical Essay #1

Hamilton is an instructor at Gary Academy. Her essay examines the themes of subservience prevalent in the play.

Over the years, many reviewers of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical The King and I have complained about the ending of the musical, in which the king dies. Critics have called his deathbed scene too solemn and melodramatic simply not in keeping with the musical comedy tone of the rest of the play. What these reviewers fail to recognize is that The King and I is not simply a "love" story between people of different cultures; the story is actually an analogy for a political relationship between their two countries. It is this political analogy underlying the relationship between Anna and the Oriental King that gives weight to the death scene (which Hammerstein added to the narrative when he adapted the story from Margaret Landon's Anna and the King ofSiatri). The deathbed...
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