The King and I: A Fight to Rule ROUGH DRAFT
Rodger and Hammerstein’s The King and I has dazzled audiences for more than fifty years. With elaborate sets and engaging characters, the source of success appears to be evident. However, hidden within Hammerstein’s romantic script lies the true foundation; an eternal historical pattern. The King and I uses vibrant color to mask the chronicle of government intervention and westernization in not only Siam but in many countries. Anna Leonownes, King Mongkut, and Prince Chualongkorn represent a caustic pattern of government intervention throughout history.
In the first scene of The King and I the audience is introduced to Anna, an English teacher traveling to 19th century Siam (currently Thailand). King Mongkut has invited Anna to educate his children on the civilized customs of the western world. As the King struggles to accept Anna’s teachings, his oldest son, Prince Chulalongkorn embraces them. Throughout the script Anna and the King battle for superiority until the King falls ill and dies. From his death bed, the King watches as the Prince ascends the thrown and makes his first proclamation; subjects will not grovel at the king’s feet, instead they will stand straight and proud, like Anna (Galens and Spampinato 141-4).
The Prince signifies a transfer of power from a weaker country to a dominating country; in this case Siam to Imperial England. Initially skeptical of Anna’s teachings, the Prince questions not only the existence of snow, but the miniscule size of Siam in relation to England (Hammerstein). By approaching Anna with a cautious attitude the Prince demonstrates Siam’s distrust of western teachings. The Prince soon discards his reservations and his father’s strict traditi...
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...stro fought to overthrow (Markel 45). Castro began his reign by nationalizing U.S. owned utility companies and seizing U.S. owned property, banks, and enterprises. When a U.S. embargo ravished the Cuban economy, Castro looked to other countries, such as the Soviet Union and Eastern European allies, for aid (Markel 87-9). Castro fought to gain control over Cuba and to limit outside influence on his country, just as the King in The King and I fought to preserve traditional Siam. Regardless of his affects on Cuban people, Castro succeeded.
It is easy to miss the historical relevance of The King and I, but upon closer inspection and audience will find that the musical is not meant for mere entertainment. The Prince, Anna, and the King all represent a pattern that warns of governmental intervention and the damage, and progress, interference beyond boarders can cause.
On July 26, 1953, the war for Cuba’s independence began, and for 6 years many Cubans fought for their freedom. The most famous of these revolutionary icons being Fidel Castro, who led the main resistance against the Cuban government. On January 1, 1959, Fidel Castro and the rest of the Cuban's succeeded. This revolutionary war went on to affect the entire world and Eric Selbin believes it is still affecting it. Throughout Eric Selbin's article, Conjugating the Cuban Revolution, he firmly states that the Cuban revolution is important in the past, present, and future. Selbin, however, is wrong.
The first book in Cinda Williams Chima’s Seven Realms series, The Demon King, takes place in a world teeming with its own social issues. One such topic that is prevalent in the book, is the conflict between the different political powers in the queendom. The main character, Raisa, also battles with the role she is expected to fill as the heir princess and what it means to be of the royal line. Readers can also see the familiar pattern where winners shape how history is perceived, often skewing what really occurred.
the English people. In a monologue the Prince suggest his intentions for glorification as he
“What light is to the eyes - what air is to the lungs - what love is to the heart, freedom is to the soul of man” (Brainy Quotes). Light is essential to the eyes, love is what makes the heart beat, and freedom is the hope of man kind; all of which are essential to the happiness of humanity. Having to live without these rights is a difficult way of living. For example, Cubans have suffered time after time in pursuit of their freedom, but sadly they never accomplish their goal. They live in fear of their broken government, but never stop fighting for freedom. In the early 20th century, Cuba was a democracy. From 1940 to 1944 Fulgencio Batista, a Cuban politician, was Cuba’s president. In 1952 he decided to run again, but when it was apparent he’d lose, Batista seized power before the election took place. The citizens were outraged causing them to turn against their flawed democracy that was brought upon by the election. As a result, Fidel Castro, a communist revolutionary political man, began to plot Batista’s downfall. The Cuban Revolution, also known as Castro’s Revolution, began on July 26, 1952, and ended January, 1, 1959. After Batista, Cuba’s former president, fled the country, Castro took complete control and turned Cuba into a communist country. The Revolution brought upon: many deaths, censored news and publicity, and no freedom of speech. Throughout the years Castro stayed in power, but due to health issues originating on July 31, 2006, he had to step down. After Castro returned, he took control of Cuba up until February 19, 2008. He then abdicated his place as dictator and handed down his position to his brother, Raul Castro.
The title of the book is All The King’s Men and the Publication date for this book is 1996.
Cuba's political history carries a pattern: when the masses are disillusioned by the current ruler, they turn to a young, strong-willed leader-of-the-people as their new ruler, only to become disillusioned to that ruler when he becomes too oppressive. It has seemed a never- ending cycle. Batista and Castro were both well-regarded leaders initially who appealed strongly to the masses and common citizen. Later, both established dictatorships and lost the support of many of those that they governed. Castro and Batista are each guilt of repression and corruption within their governments. For example, at some point under each regime, the constitution was either suspended or not followed at all. Castro did, though, make one very important contribution to Cuba's political system: Socialism. For the first time, Castro and Che Guevara a socialist plan called the New Man theory which called for developing an ideology amongst citizens that would call for working not for personal enrichment, but for social betterment.
The Prince is hoping to gain some crew to join him on his journey. He also wants the men to help him get rid of the suitors. The prince starts off by saying “My distinguished father is lost, who ruled among you once, mild as a father evil still: my house and all I have is being ruined” (2.49-52).
All the King’s Men, written by Robert Penn Warren, is set deep in the south during the 1930’s. This is a story of the rise and fall of a political titan. Willie Stark comes from poverty to become the governor of his state. He forces his enemies into submission by blackmails, repeated threats, and bullies them. He creates a series of liberal reforms that lay heavy tax burdens on the rich and lifts the money issue off of the poor farmers. His foil character Sam MacMurfee persistently searches for way to ruin the career of Willie Starks. Sam MacMurfee has thugs and powerful political allies deep in his pockets. The two characters remind the reader of corrupt figures in politics such as the famous Boss Tweed.
The first Memoir of 1795 was addressed to the heir of her natal family and took the form of a public appeal in her effort to reestablish her family’s moral legitimacy and honorable family tradition. Before we explore her memoir, it is important to note that she felt responsible for her family’s downfall – believing that her marriage into the royal house had led to directly their suffering and decline. Beyond the scholarly merit of her stories, they are important in the view Lady Hyegyong provides of the court life and the strict Confucian beliefs that stress filial piety, loyalty and virtue. To being with, the move from
Everyone knows the name Fidel Castro, the revolutionary of Cuba. At the University of Havana in 1945 is where Fidel Castro began his long and treacherous journey as a radical nationalist. (Fidel: The Untold Story). He fought the infamous Flugencio Batista in the name of social justice until victory was won. He claimed to have fought for a democratic Cuba and a restoration of constitutional government and Cuban sovereignty, but he also stood for socialism and communist ideals. As Tim Padgett from Times Magazine on page 42 stated “Fidel imported old-world Marxism and its perverse notion that social justice is best delivered via the injustice of autocracy.” He supported everything the US and pro-democracy states despised and stood as a revolutionary
Cuban Dictator was overthrown by Fidel Castor. The main problem was that the United States
Fidel Castro was a man who had a target on his head. Lots of people from all over the world wanted him dead. Fidel Castro wasn’t a capitalist person, he was a Communist.
society and the goal of The Prince is to instruct a prince, or ruler, on how to maintain his state.
In order to fully understand why the Cuban Revolutionary War occurred, it is important to know what was happening in Cuba before the war, what was influencing Cuban decisions at that time, and what precipitated the revolution where eventually Fidel Castro came into power. In 1933 General Gerardo Machado ruled the tyrannical government in Cuba, but his regime began to disintegrate. Enter a young Cuban Army Officer, Fulgencio Batista who had caught the attention of the Cuban people. Batista began a campaign to take over the rule of Cuba. His effort was successful as he allied with unions and student groups and because the Machado regime had effectively fallen apart. Batista was Cuba’s president in the early 1940’s and ran again for President in 1952. Before the elections could be completed, Batista was afraid he would lose the election, so he seized power without warning and cancelled the elections.
The book The Prince was a book of advice to politicians regarding how gain power and keep that power. The title The Prince is not about someone who has inherited land and a decedent to a king. In Machiavelli’s perspective a prince was a man of the citizens....