The Miller's Son question

[wiggum2]

Posted: 9/30/06 at 3:51pm

This is probably my fav song in ALNM but I have never seen the show so what is the context of the song in the show?
Thanks

[Plum]

Posted: 9/30/06 at 4:09pm

It's sung by Petra the maid. If I remember right, in the show she has romantic entanglements with Henrik (Frederick's son) and Frid the butler. It's...a song about how fun it is to sleep around.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 9/30/06 at 4:27pm

you're right it is sung by Petra, the maid who has just slept with the butler. But, I do not think it is about how fun it is to sleep around. I think she is singing about her life, dreams, and oter women. It is abother Sondheim song about society and a personal growth song, at the end she is with the "miller's son" and that is what whe wanted. It is probably my third favorite sondheim song ever.
Updated On: 9/30/06 at 04:27 PM

Posted: 9/30/06 at 4:51pm

The Miller's Son sums up the romantic madness of the show. The Armfeldts, Eggermans, Charlotte et. al are all these high-class folks swept up in there soap opera life, but at the very end, we see how Petra, who's just the maid, is no different from them in how she too can get swept up in it. Love, passion, etc. will affect everyone - from the lowly servant up to the Prince of Wales.

[wiggum2]

Posted: 9/30/06 at 5:00pm

I've always thought even though she may want to marry all the men, she is just a maid and will end up with a lower class man like the miller's son.

How is the song set up? How does it segue into the song?
Thanks again

[JackiesBroJoe]

Posted: 9/30/06 at 5:02pm

you can purchase the book and find out the answers to all your questions:

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Music-Applause-Musical-Library/dp/1557830703/sr=1-1/qid=1159650124/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-8900215-9001717?ie=UTF8&s=books

[frontrowcentre2]

Posted: 10/1/06 at 12:42am

The song is not really cued in, in the show. It's a reflective pause (in the middle of quite a bit of frantic action.) Petra is revealed having just made love with Frid (the butler). The three scenarios she projects represent the three male figures in the plot. The Miller's Son = Henrick, The Businessman = Frederick, The Prince of Wales = The Count. I have always believed that since the song circles back to The Miller's son in the final lines she is deciding that she would prefer that kind of simpler relationship where "We'll go dancing" rather than the Prince where "we'll have dancing." The song is allegorical so open to any number of interpretations.

Or you can just enjoy it as a really finely crafted song.

[TheEnchantedHunter]

Posted: 10/1/06 at 1:19am

Petra is an opportunistic young lady who would take advantage of any situation in order to further herself. This is made explicit in the source film SMILES OF A SUMMER NIGHT where she is chastised by a senior domestic for making a fool of herself with Henrik. It would not disappoint Petra if her loveplay with Henrik ended up with her compromised and reliant upon the Egerman family to do right by her.




Agnes Gooch
Beekman Place, NY

[best12bars]

Posted: 10/1/06 at 1:49am

Well... I kinda don't agree with any of those answers...

Petra is a maid, yes, but it's not in her character to pause after making love and "reflect philosophically" about all the goings on at the Armfeldt mansion.

She's stopping, after a romantic moment of her own with the butler Frid, to take stock of her own life. She sees her "moment" with Frid for what it is... a rumble in the hay... but she dreams of what her future life will be like if she marries someone... first, it's a miller's son... a lower class life, simple and ordinary... grabbing at the few pleasures that life might offer her down the road... then she pictures herself with a business man... the typical "yuppie" life of her own day... with the typical scenario of "five fat babies and lots of security"... but in the meanwhile, she's going to have a lot of fun "sampling" the men that come into her life... and finally, she dreams of living the high life, marrying the Prince of Wales... and with each dreamy scenario, she realizes she's not getting younger anymore, and she must enjoy life for all its worth... but ultimately, she WILL marry the miller's son... because that's the reality she faces.

I've always found that ending to be a sobering truth of a realization, rather than a "decision" she's making. Petra has no choice in the matter. This is the life that she (and anyone like her) faces. She's tasting as much of life and romance as she possibly can, while she can... and then she will settle down to the fate of her ordinary life.

It's pretty much a brilliant one act play... in a single song.

Updated On: 10/1/06 at 01:49 AM

[Petra]

Posted: 10/1/06 at 10:34am

The important message is to enjoy life for all it's worth!

Brilliant song, and wonderful character.