Act 2, Scene 1 Summary

The schoolroom functions as a dressing room tonight, where all the women of the palace are changing into their new European style dresses. Makeup artists are applying pale cosmetics to the women's faces, so that they will appear to be of European heritage. The women are baffled by the excessive material and hoops in their skirts and sing a song about the irony of trying to appear civilized to a group of people who wear such ridiculous clothes and abide by silly rituals every day.

The only item not addressed is the lack of undergarments for the women, who are not accustomed to such items. As they curtsy at Sir Ramsay's arrival, their lack of skill navigating the hoop skirts creates indelicate scenes, but Sir Ramsay chooses not to dwell on the matter. Sir Ramsay had courted Anna before she married...