Curious about this Western woman, the king's wives, led by Lady Thiang, the Number One wife who learned English from the missionaries, address Anna as "Sir," because her knowledge of science places her above the status of a "lowly woman." When the wives deride Tuptim because she longs to be with her lover, Lun Tha, rather than the king, Ann fondly recalls her beloved late husband. Charmed by Mongkut's myriad children, Anna agrees to stay even though the king refuses her request of a house. Although entrenched in tradition, the imperious king sincerely desires to usher his country into the modern era of scientific enlightenment, and so decrees that Anna should also teach his bevy of wives. When the king refuses her an audience, Anna unceremoniously charges forward. After the Kralahome informs her that she is to live in the palace rather than being granted her own home as previously promised, the plucky Anna charges into King Mongkut's chambers just as the graceful Tuptim is being presented as a gift from the Prince of Burma.
Greeted by the king's stern prime minister, the Kralahome, and his half-naked minions, Anna puffs up her courage. In 1862, Anna Leonowens, a young, widowed English schoolteacher, arrives in Bangkok, Thailand, with her son Louis, having accepted a job teaching English to the children of the King of Siam.
0 kommentar(er)
