"Iolanthe" In Order Trivia Quiz

The fairies arrive on stage in the very first song, "Tripping hither, tripping thither". In the song, the fairies describe their ways, although adding that they don't know why they act the way they do:
"Tripping hither, tripping thither
Nobody knows why or whither;
We must dance and we must sing
Round about our fairy ring!"
Thus, the fairies set the stage for the entrance of Iolanthe, the titular character, who is a fairy like them. She was banished years before for breaking fairy laws and marrying a mortal, with whom she had a child, Strephon. However, the fairies miss Iolanthe, and convince the Fairy Queen to pardon her and bring her back from banishment.

Strephon, an Arcadian shepherd, is the half-mortal, half-immortal son of Iolanthe. He is affianced to the beautiful shepherdess Phyllis, who is a ward in Chancery. Although he has yet to receive the Chancellor's approval, they are to be married that day, and duet in this song:
"None shall part us from each other
One in life and death are we:
All in all to one another -
I to thee and thou to me!"

After Strephon and Phyllis' duet, the viewer is transferred to the House of Parliament, where the Lords make their entrance in the grand "Loudly let the trumpet bray". The Peers are full of their own importance, as the lyrics describe:
"We are peers of highest station
Paragons of legislation
Pillars of the British nation..."
The Lord Chancellor follows them in, and describes how difficult it is for him to give away pretty young wards in Chancery without ever marrying one himself. It is into this scene that Phyllis arrives, hoping for permission to marry Strephon.

When Phyllis arrives at the Houses of Parliament asking for permission to marry, the Peers, who are in love with her, are horrified. Strephon soon enters and asks for permission as well, but the Chancellor, taking his duties very seriously, asks for strict evidence of their love. He describes his duty to uphold the law in the following song:
"When I went to the Bar as a very young man
(Said I to myself - said I)
I'll work on a new and original plan
(Said I to myself - said I)
I'll never assume that a rogue or a thief
Is a gentleman worthy implicit belief
Because his attorney has sent me a brief
(Said I to myself - said I)"
Because of his love for honesty, he cannot condone the marriage.

This song is part of the culminating sequence that ends Act I. In a previous song, "When darkly looms the day", Strephon is seen talking to his mother Iolanthe by Phyllis and the Peers, and he is misheard to be flirting with what appears to be a seventeen-year-old. In this song, Strephon tries to explain the situation, since Phyllis refuses to marry him under the circumstances:
"The lady of my love has caught me talking to another...
I tell her very plainly that the lady is my mother...
She won't believe my statement, and declares we must be parted
Because on a career of double-dealing I have started
Then gives her hand to one of these, and leaves me broken-hearted..."
He is aided in his explanation by the fairies, who show up to help him.

To make up for the fairies and Strephon being so insulted by the Peers and the Lord Chancellor, the Fairy Queen places Strephon into the House of Commons, while casting curses on the House of Lords, in this song:
"Henceforth, Strephon, cast away
Crooks and pipes and ribbons so gay -
Flocks and herds that bleat and low;
Into Parliament you shall go!"
The most horrible curse the Fairy Queen pronounces is that peerdom will henceforth be determined by Competitive Examination rather than by birth, at which the Peers exclaim, "Horror!"

When Iolanthe was first performed in 1882, this song was the surprise hit of the show. The first song in Act II, it is sung by Private Willis, who is standing sentry in front of the Houses of Parliament. The song is a clever satire on politics:
"When in that House M.P.s divide
If they've a brain and cerebеllum, too
They've got to leavе that brain outside
And vote just as their leaders tell 'em to
But then the prospect of a lot
Of dull M. P.s in close proximity
All thinking for themselves, is what
No man can face with equanimity."
The Fairy Queen is attracted to the Private, against all fairy laws.

This song is an example of a patter song, which is sung quickly with complicated lyrics. In it, the Lord Chancellor describes his nightmares caused by his love for his ward Phyllis; hence, the song is often also known as "The Nightmare Song":
"...Well, you get some repose
In the form of a doze
With hot eyeballs and head ever aching
But your slumbering teems
With such horrible dreams
That you'd very much better be waking..."
After the song, the Lord Chancellor is encouraged by two of the Peers to marry Phyllis, which he resolves to do.

In this song, Strephon and his mother Iolanthe have finally met with Phyllis and explained to her the truth of the situation: that they are not in fact lovers, but mother and son, and that Iolanthe is a fairy! Strephon and Phyllis duet in this song, in which they say that they must marry immediately, otherwise face other obstacles:
"If we're weak enough to tarry
Ere we marry, you and I
Of the feeling I inspire
You may tire, by-and-by.
For peers with flowing coffers
Press their offers, that is why
I am sure we should not tarry
Ere we marry, you and I!"
The song is bouncy and charming, a light moment before the darkness of the rest of the act.

In "My lord, a suppliant at your feet I kneel", Iolanthe finally reveals herself to the Lord Chancellor in a bid for Strephon to marry Phyllis, instead of the Chancellor himself. When the Lord Chancellor refuses to give up Phyllis for Strephon, Iolanthe reveals to him that she is his long-dead wife! It turns out that the Lord Chancellor was the mortal husband that Iolanthe married against fairy laws, and Strephon is their son. Although the Lord Chancellor is overjoyed that his wife is alive, Iolanthe has once again broken fairy laws by revealing herself to him, and the Fairy Queen sentences her to death.

It is suddenly revealed, however, that all the other fairies have succumbed to the Peers and all married mortals. At the risk of having to kill all the fairies, the Lord Chancellor suggests changing the fairy law to say that it is forbidden to NOT marry a mortal. Everyone is happy, including the Fairy Queen, who marries Private Willis. In the operetta's final song, "Soon as we may", every mortal is changed into a fairy, and everyone flies happily away.