What is marriage anyway?
Warning: if you have not seen Miss Saigon and wish to remain ignorant of the intimate plot details, I encourage you to stop now, attend the play, then come back.
I admit it, I am a theater aficionado. In fact, I will spend amounts of money that otherwise would cause me to recoil in horror on theater tickets without blinking. The object of my conspicuous consumption on this particular evening was Miss Saigon, the celebrated Broadway musical set during the fall of Saigon. My knowledge of the plot was nearly non-existent, as is my preference, but I was aware that a helicopter would descend on the stage. That bit of theatrics appealed to my sense of drama considerably. The promotional posters outside the theater proclaimed Miss Saigon to be a "a love for our time", accompanied by a photo of a passionately kissing couple. Romance is good, I thought, providing it avoids a high schmaltz factor. Lacing my fingers with that of my good natured husband, I hoped that the background of war torn Vietnam would counteract his gag reflex toward any excessive displays of mushiness.
When the houselights brightened following the curtain call, I wandered from the theater puzzled about the nature of love and marriage. I found myself awash in questions: Is marriage defined only by legalities or by intentions? Is it about love or family obligations? What about chronology, I wondered. Does one declaration of love and commitment supersede a later one? And finally, do the answers to these questions vary depending on cultural beliefs?
The romantic bliss of Chris and Kim is interrupted early in our story by Thuy, Kim's intended groom from an arranged betrothal. It is difficult, in our society that stresses individuality and choice, to imagine a decision as important as our spouse being determined during our childhood by someone other than ourselves. However, these betrothals are more then legal contracts, they are a symbol of honor and broken only under the most extenuating of circumstances - almost certainly not by the young bride herself. Kim's repeated rejection of Thuy is tantamount to family treason, it is an offense that could have meant her exile from her village (Of course her parents are dead and her village destroyed, which indubitably made her stance easier). Certainly, her reasons are comprehendible - Thuy's alliance with the people who murdered her parents and destroyed her village, but is it enough? Let's face it, political philosophy aside, the real reason Kim is rejecting Thuy is because she has fallen in love with Chris - and we the audience applaud her for it.
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