Looks like everything good has already been said about this drama. It's very well crafted, the story is beautiful and enticing, it's fun (but it will break your heart several times), you can choose whatever ending you like.
What a coincidence, I was in the middle of Rain Or Shine when I suddenly decided to watch this and kept thinking ( Wow, the male leads look SO MUCH alike XD). Lee Jun-Ho. His performance here is way better though.
Lee Se-Yong is not my favourite actress when it comes to visuals. I still grew fond of her. I ended up thinking she was really pretty. This says plenty about how good her performance was.
I have to complain about just one thing. The hugs and kisses. They were dull. I could tell there was a camera. Where is the passion? I know this can be explained by the fact that the maid was afraid of giving her heart, and the king thought he was the only one in love. Still.
I wrote that I resented the king. I did resent him through the last episodes and I watched the last one with clenched teeth. Fear not, no spoiler. Someone wrote that they wanted Duk ImHa to say that she loved the king. How else could she say it? After saving his life countless times? After giving him everything, her life, herself, more than herself. She kept giving, and he (who loudly and repeatedly said that he loved her) kept taking, sometimes by force, without ever, EVER sacrificing anything. How many times did he look down on her? On her friends? He meant to free slaves, but to very end, he considered court ladies lowly creatures. How many times did he make DIH cry when a single word or gesture would have meant plenty? Just because he was the king. Even when nobody was around, he was arrogant, full of himself, obnoxious, enraged maybe, frustrated that he couldn't afford a maid's heart... His guard advised him to show his weaknesses, but he was too proud to do so. He didn't deserve to hear that she loved him. He didn't even deserve to be loved by her. She was right to never completely surrender. He would have walked all over her. As I see it, he actually did. The romantic (sad? Happy?) ending does not change that.
Having said that, it does take a well-made drama to make you hate a character this much... Got me there.
What a coincidence, I was in the middle of Rain Or Shine when I suddenly decided to watch this and kept thinking ( Wow, the male leads look SO MUCH alike XD). Lee Jun-Ho. His performance here is way better though.
Lee Se-Yong is not my favourite actress when it comes to visuals. I still grew fond of her. I ended up thinking she was really pretty. This says plenty about how good her performance was.
I have to complain about just one thing. The hugs and kisses. They were dull. I could tell there was a camera. Where is the passion? I know this can be explained by the fact that the maid was afraid of giving her heart, and the king thought he was the only one in love. Still.
I wrote that I resented the king. I did resent him through the last episodes and I watched the last one with clenched teeth. Fear not, no spoiler. Someone wrote that they wanted Duk ImHa to say that she loved the king. How else could she say it? After saving his life countless times? After giving him everything, her life, herself, more than herself. She kept giving, and he (who loudly and repeatedly said that he loved her) kept taking, sometimes by force, without ever, EVER sacrificing anything. How many times did he look down on her? On her friends? He meant to free slaves, but to very end, he considered court ladies lowly creatures. How many times did he make DIH cry when a single word or gesture would have meant plenty? Just because he was the king. Even when nobody was around, he was arrogant, full of himself, obnoxious, enraged maybe, frustrated that he couldn't afford a maid's heart... His guard advised him to show his weaknesses, but he was too proud to do so. He didn't deserve to hear that she loved him. He didn't even deserve to be loved by her. She was right to never completely surrender. He would have walked all over her. As I see it, he actually did. The romantic (sad? Happy?) ending does not change that.
Having said that, it does take a well-made drama to make you hate a character this much... Got me there.