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Gender Analysis of Anna and the King Essays

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Gender Analysis of Anna and the King

If you are not the lead elephant, the scenery never changes. (Moonshee, Anna’s servant)

One of the main issues in “Anna and the King” is the differences between men and women. What is less obvious is that those differences are of two types: the existing inequality of the social status of men and women, and the ways in which men and women try to deal with (end or prolong) this inequality.

First of all, let us observe the structure of the Thai society. Men occupy the dominant position in all aspects of life from top to bottom of the Thai social structure. The King rules the society, and men enforce all the laws and government regulations (we see no women participating in the King’s council …show more content…

Why does her mistress break the law? Certainly, she is a greedy, dishonest person, but her behavior may have a deeper explanation. She imitates the behavior of men by trying to put herself above the law. Probably, such attempts of these two women have no influence on Thai society, thus they are vain. However, the actions of two other women in the movie, Tuptim and Anna, do have an eventual influence on Thai society.

Tuptim makes her choice between love and duty not like a traditional Thai woman who is obedient, but like a human being with the right to make decisions on her own. She breaks the law in order to be close to her loved one. In spite of her betrayal of the King, her desperate attempt to keep her love makes the King take her side, if only privately. The main message that we get from her life and death is that love, which is the main connection between men and women, lacks any inherent inequality or discrimination. The King admits that Tuptim and her lover “fulfilled their destiny by touching us all” and intends to learn from his mistakes. One conclusion we can make from this is that if the laws and customs deprive one (in this case, a woman) of his or her rights, then submission is not the way to keep one’s human values. A better way is to pass on your values and to set an example with your courage.

Prince Chulalongkorn says, “Anna had shined such a light on Siam.” This is a very important statement because it directly indicates her role in

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