South Pacific (Masterplots II: Drama, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Oscar Hammerstein, II, Joshua Logan
- First Published: 1949
- Type of Plot: Musical; war
- Time of Work: World War II
- Setting: Two islands in the South Pacific
- Principal Characters: Ensign Nellie Forbush, Emile de Becque, Lieutenant Joseph Cable, Bloody Mary, Liat, Luther Billis, Captain George Brackett, Commander William Harbison, Ngana, Jerome
- Genres: Drama, War drama, Musical drama
- Subjects: Racism, Love or romance, Sex or sexuality, Prejudices or antipathies, World War II, War, Islands, Military life or service, Nursing or nurses, South Pacific, Navies
- Locales: South Pacific
The Play
A two-act musical play containing twelve scenes in each act, South Pacific is set during World War II on an unnamed Pacific island and the nearby island Bali Ha’i. The curtain opens on Emile de Becque’s plantation home, revealing Ngana, age about eleven, and Jerome, age about eight, his children of European and Asian descent. Emile de Becque is entertaining Nellie Forbush, an attractive Navy nurse much younger than he, at his home for the first time. The children have left the stage before Emile and Nellie enter. She will not learn of the children’s...
[The entire page is 1848 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
