Transcriber’s Notes
Punctuation errors have been corrected.
Page 23: “Mrs. Olangsti” changed to “Mrs. Olangtsi”
About This Book
The play centers on a bustling painting studio where indolent students and a few persistent servants circle a supine young artist, Yunglangtsi, whose supposed destiny as the greatest living artist fuels rivalries and mock ceremonies. Grumbles about unpaid labor, petty bullying, and comic rituals alternate with scenes involving a Korean slave-girl whose rising status prompts a proposed marriage, scheming merchants, and a money-lender. Through sharp stage comedy and caricatured characters the piece satirizes artistic pretension, social ambition, and the clash between creative aspiration and everyday economic pressures, unfolding in staged episodes that mix farce, mock-heroic pronouncements, and domestic maneuvering.