Iolanthe: Analysis of Setting
"Iolanthe" is a comic opera by W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan that intricately blends elements of fantasy and political satire through its distinctive settings. The first act presents an "Arcadian" landscape, characterized by idyllic scenery featuring a river and a rustic bridge, evoking a whimsical realm where fairies coexist with mortals. This enchanting locale serves as the backdrop for a romance between Phyllis, a ward of Chancery, and Strephon, a character of dual heritage—part mortal, part fairy. The second act transitions to the more grounded setting of Westminster Palace, the heart of British politics, contrasting the ethereal qualities of Fairyland with the realities of Victorian London. Here, the fairies disrupt the conventional order of the House of Lords, blending the magical with the mundane. The narrative culminates in the fairy queen's actions that symbolize the merging of these worlds, proposing unions and granting the Parliament members wings to escape to Fairyland. This duality of settings not only enhances the humor of the opera but also serves as a critique of social and political structures of the time, inviting the audience to reflect on the boundaries between fantasy and reality.
Iolanthe: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1882
First produced: 1882
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Operetta
Time of work: Nineteenth century
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
Arcadian landscape
Arcadian landscape. W. W. Gilbert called the setting of the play’s first act “Arcadian,” and his stage directions indicate a river and a rustic bridge. However, the scene in which the action of Iolanthe begins might be described more truly as Fairyland, a place in which an Arcadian shepherdess can be a ward of Chancery, wooed by a shepherd who is the son of a union between a mortal and a fairy and who is a fairy down to his waist but has the lower half of a mortal. To a picturesque vista of grassy lawns and goldfish ponds, Conservative peers come marching to pay their court to Phyllis, and in this realm of infinite possibilities the stout Wagnerian queen of the fairies has been able to nestle in a nutshell, dive into a dewdrop, and curl up inside a tiny flower.
*Westminster Palace
*Westminster Palace. London home of the British Parliament, where the moonlit face of the clock below Big Ben anchors the play’s second act in the reality of Victorian London. A sentry marches back and forth in precise fashion, meditating on the structure of party politics. The fairies have come to London in support of Strephon, the half-mortal shepherd, and the power they bring from their own magical world upsets the boundaries and expectations of Westminster and the House of Lords. Ultimately, the fairy queen reunites Strephon’s mother with her long-lost husband, the lord chancellor, proposes marriage to the sentry, and pairs off her troops with members of Parliament, who immediately sprout wings, and “away [they] go to Fairyland,” where “they will be surely happier.”
Bibliography
Bailey, Leslie. Gilbert and Sullivan and Their World. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1973. Examines the original production of Iolanthe and notes its allusions to Wagnerian opera. Photographs and sketches of early productions.
Dark, Sidney, and Rowland Grey. W. S. Gilbert: His Life and Letters. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Gryphon Books, 1971. Shows Iolanthe’s indebtedness to The Bab Ballads (1869) and considers the development of the patter song in the Lord Chancellor’s songs. Examines the role of the chorus in relation to other Gilbert and Sullivan works.
Dunn, George E. A Gilbert and Sullivan Directory. New York: Da Capo Press, 1971. A comprehensive dictionary that includes references to Gilbert’s many allusions. Shows correlations among various Gilbert and Sullivan works.
Heylar, James, ed. Gilbert and Sullivan: Papers Presented at the International Conference Held at the University of Kansas in May, 1970. Lawrence: University of Kansas Library, 1971. Examines the considerable abridgments made to Iolanthe over the years and the reasons for these changes. Connects the operetta to similar works.
Moore, Frank Ledlie. Handbook of Gilbert and Sullivan. New York: Schocken Books, 1975. Gives an overview of Iolanthe. Places the opera in the pastoral tradition and considers its many allusions to the operas of Richard Wagner.