Some Enchanted Evening: Analyzing the Book of South Pacific in terms of Racism and Social Intolerance.
Musical theater does many things. It entertains audiences, lifting them out of the dreary doldrums that are their lives, and transporting them into a world of fantasy, if only for a brief couple of hours. While these superficial goals are often achieved in musical theater, often times audiences are asked to reflect on the issues of their everyday life through the characters, songs and themes of the performance. One such instance in which this is the case is in Rodgers and Hammerstein's (R&H) South Pacific. The period piece hides the overarching themes of confronting racism and the struggles of war throughout its operatic musical numbers, and the interactions between soldier and native. In essence, South Pacific, put forth a difficult message that forced Americans to view the harsh consequences of racism and intolerance. .
On the surface, South Pacific is almost utopian. It "paints an extraordinarily bright picture of a human community that knows no barriers of race or culture" (Most South Pacific 312). However, after further examination, it is evident that racial tension occurs throughout the play. As the story of South Pacific begins, the audience is introduced to Emile, a handsome French man, who opens the show with a beautiful song that catches the audience's ears and allows them to immediately fall in love with him. Next, Nellie a female American Army nurse and the show's protagonist is introduced; she is the epitome of every American girl, beautiful and blond. The two fall deeply in love and plan to marry. Both the audience and Nellie are soon shocked and angry when they learn that Emile is the father of two black children. Despite the adorable, loving nature of the two children, Nellie cannot accept them. As R&H wrote the musical, they intended for the audience to empathize with Nellie and resent Emile.