The Romance of Geok Chan and Boon Ok
Snowdrop is indicated to use Romeo and Juliet as an allegorical source, and the couple that comes to mind is the main couple romance of Soo Ho and Young Ro. And although understandably, being the main couple, they do have that certain aspect that parallel the Shakespearean tragedy, I feel that they tend to be more of a face value basis rather than an ideological one.
The one couple that I feel more closer portray the ideological portrayal of Romeo and Juliet is actually the relationships of Boon Ok and Gyeok Chan. Let me explain how and why.
The romance between these two starts very late in the drama, and are mostly relegated to minor side glances. But what makes the romance even remotely viable and shippable may be the shared consciousness between the two. Watching their tragic backstory unfold, and intersect, is enough to illicit sympathy. We sense the homegenized suffering of two kindred souls, that can sense each others pain as if it were their own. Even before the episode of their flirtation was showed, they had already become a stronger couple than that of Kang Moo and Hanna (their relationship feels like a very one sided one that is borne out of a stereotypical portrayal of a hysterical jilted ex-lover). One can even argue that they are the true secondary couple pairing, that is only hindered by them being portrayed as antagonist by the show.
Gyeok Chan and Boon Ok portray the role of star crossed lovers, because their love story is tragic and impossible. They not only belong to conflicting sides, but neither of them have destinies that they can control. While Boon Ok is the only person who can care for her ailing father and thus must survive; Gyeok Chan on the other hand is stuck in a hole of indoctrination of which escape is difficult. In a way, both of them are stuck in their destiny, there is no nepotism or great family name that can help them escape their predicament or elevate their status. In fact this is a defining feature of the two, they both at different times, lament the deficiency of their poor birth, and the difficulty they both are experiencing in life. Both of them also have to defer to people who are given a more higher status due to the statuses of their family, namely Young Ro and Soo Ho.
Tragically, the only way for Boon Ok and Gyeok Chan to escape their forced destinies is to perish. Gyeok Chan seems to value his death as the greatest honor, it seems to be a noble thing for his ideology, but it seems more to me, to Gyeok Chan, it seems to be the one thing he can fully control. Throughout the drama, Soo Ho neuters Gyeok Chan's intentions. He can nary do a thing without Soo Ho's permission. Boon Ok on the other hand, even in a hostage situation where the power balance should be neutralized, she is still made to feel like the lowest rung in society. Which is why, when given the chance to escape her destiny presents itself by way of Cheong Ya, it was not a tough decision for Boon Ok to make. Boon Ok and Gyeok Chan represent two people trying to escape their forced destinies in their own ways. And in doing so, they have found each other, and made them realized that maybe they can find a way to both escape their destinies, and re-write their future. Their love bloomed behind a harsh environment of a plot and setting that would rejoice the star crosses lovers, failures, and would rather see both characters follow their paths to their own demise.
We see that both Boon Ok and Gyeok Chan are actually quite loyal. Although both may look traitorous to the viewers, it's actually quite the contrary. Gyeok Chan's loyalty never lay with Soo Ho, but rather Ms. Choi and the ideology of the NK government, which is why we never see his characterization sway. In Boon Ok's case on the other hand, the viewers and the people of Hosu Dorm expects her to be loyal to them, even considering their mistreatment of her. This is akin to a husband who cheats on her wife constantly, being outraged when her wife ends up sleeping with someone else. But when Boon Ok, eventually let's her guard down, and accept the NK's as her new "family", we see her be quite loyal to them, and find ways to help them.
In a way, the warring families that wants to keep Gyeok Chan and Boon Ok from forming a romance is the audience of the show, who majority seem to believe that both of these character deserves nothing but sadness and bad karma. While in comparison, there is really no such hindrance for Young Ro and Soo ho, who have their happy ending begged and carpeted by viewers expectation. While the romance of Young Ro is paved by dialogue and magic coffee, Gyeok Chan and Boon Ok faced much more insurmountable odds.
But it's interesting, even with a complete lack of screen time, dialogue or plot devices. There is that genuine sense of connection. Although the two of them do not talk much, they allow their actions to pave the path for the romance. Just like a true romantic couple, Gyeok Chan does thing for Boon Ok without asking, as she does things for him without his prodding. We see that even though their relationship is relegated to nods, side glances, and fleeting eye contact, the fire has never burned brighter between these two star crossed lovers.
And although tragedy is most likely in the path of Boon Ok and Gyeok Chan; it will at least allow them to escape the destiny forced upon them, and hopefully find redemption from the audience somehow, someway.
Kimsamsoom:
TinkerMeAway:
