The King and I

The week the boys had swimming lessons, I brought along my book to browse, Rodgers and Hammerstein by Ethan Mordden.  I was enchanted by a full sized colored page from the The King and I's 1956 movie version of "Shall We Dance".   I decided to read the whole chapter to see what I could learn about the show

The subplot of the king's slave, Tuptim, running away ends up  having a major effect on Anna's relationship with King.  Here is an excerpt of Mordden's assessment:
:
"In the musical they must come to grips with the very core of what they cannot abide in each other-her resistance to authority and his egomania.  Moreover, this happens only moments after the "Shall We Dance" scene, in which they have drawn closer to each other than ever before.  Now with Tuptim held down on the floor before them, the King orders her to be whipped."

The dialogue which follows involves Anna defending Tuptim and the King, in shame and frustration, running out of the room.

Mordden continues, "Anna has destroyed the King.  So fully has he come to depend on her for advice, support, and esteem that he cannot survive without them.  Yet she has come to depend on him, to be the kind of man she can at once guide and admire.  Seeing him as a savage shatters her idol."

I always appreciate the psychology behind a musical, movie, book, or any other kind of art.