The English governess at the Siamese court - being recollections of six years in the royal palace at Bangkok (1873) (14753186736)

Identifier: englishgoverness00leonuoft (find matches)
Title: The English governess at the Siamese court : being recollections of six years in the royal palace at Bangkok
Year: 1873 (1870s)
Authors: Leonowens, Anna Harriette, 1834-1914
Subjects: Thailand -- Social life and customs
Publisher: Boston : J.R. Osgood
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN



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d in every street of Bangkok, and all alongthe river, booths and floating salas may be seen, in whichtragedy, comedy, and satirical burlesques, are enacted forthe entertainment of great audiences, who are thrilled, de-lighted, or amused. In compositions strictly dramatic thecharacters, as with us, speak and act for themselves; butin the epic the poet recites the adventures of his lieroes. Judges are appointed by the king to determine themerits of new plays before they are performed at court;and on the grand occasion of the hair-cutting of theheir-apparent (now king) his late Majesty caused the poem Kraelasah to be modernized and adapted to grace tlieceremonies. Phra Eamawsha, a -^Titer highly esteemed, did wondersfor the Siamese drama. He translated the Eamayana, theMahabharata, and portions of the Cambodian lyrics intoSiamese ; introduced masks, with magnificence of costumeand ornament; substituted theatres, or rather salas, fortlie temporary booth or the open plain; and elevated the
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Stamkse Actor and Actress. SIAMESE LITERATURE AND ART. 177 matter and the style of dramatic compositions from theburlesque and buffoonery to the sentimental and majestic.He was also the first to impart spirit and variety to thedialogue, and to teach actors to express like artists, andnot like mere animals, the strong human passions of an-ger, love, and pity. The plays of Phra Eamawsha arehighly esteemed at court. In his management of amorousincidents and intrigues, he is, if not positively refined, atleast less gross than other Siamese dramatists. The dress of the players is always rich^ and in thefashion of that worn at court. The actors and actressesattached to the royal establishment make a splendid dis-play in this respect, large sums being expended annuallyon their costumes, jewels, and other adornings. The development of native genius and skill, in the di-rection of the fine arts, has greatly declined, if it hasnot been absolutely arrested, since the reign of Phra Narai,the enli