Iolanthe, or The Peer and the Peri, is a Gilbert and Sullivan operetta. The libretto was written Sir William Schwenck Gilbert, and the music was composed Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan. Following Patience, Iolanthe was their seventh operetta together. On November 25, 1882, Iolanthe made her London debut at Richard D’Oyly Carte’s new Savoy Theatre. Iolanthe should not be confused with Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky’s one-act lyric opera Iolanta, which premiered a decade later in 1892 and features magic but no fairies.
The opera’s backstory, which is a political parody, is that 25 years before Act I, the fairy Iolanthe broke a fairy law marrying a mortal. Despite the fact that the offense was punishable death, the Queen of the Fairies spared Iolanthe and sentenced her to exile on the condition that she never see her husband again.
The other fairies have persuaded the Queen to forgive Iolanthe, and she is allowed to return as the opera begins. Strephon, Iolanthe’s son, was raised as a shepherd and has fallen in love with Phyllis, a ward of the Court of Chancery who needs permission from the Lord Chancellor to marry. The Lord Chancellor refuses Phyllis’ request because he is in love with her. The Queen agrees to assist Strephon in his pursuit of Phyllis.
The Lord Chancellor is asked the House of Lords to allow Phyllis to marry a peer of her choice, which she initially refuses. But, not knowing that Strephon is half fairy and seeing him with Iolanthe, whom she has never met and mistook for a rival, she suspects Strephon of infidelity and chooses to marry one of two peers, Mountararat or Tolloller. Strephon appeals to the fairies for help, and the Queen punishes the peers appointing Strephon as a member of parliament with the authority to pass any bill he proposes. The first is to admit students based on an examination, which is unpopular among peers.
In Act II, it becomes clear that the fairies are developing romantic feelings for mortals, particularly their peers. Even the Queen makes a passing reference to her feelings for a sentry. Mountararat and Tolloller decide that their friendship is too valuable to be shattered over Phyllis, and they persuade the Lord Chancellor to try again. In the meantime, Strephon reveals to Phyllis that he is half-fairy, which clarifies his mother’s situation, and the two reconcile. Iolanthe’s secret, that her husband is the Lord Chancellor, is revealed, and despite her death sentence if she meets with him, she ensures that he cannot marry Phyllis revealing herself as his wife, allowing Strephon, their son, to marry her.
When the Queen arrives to exact vengeance, she discovers that all of the other fairies have married their peers as well. The Queen is torn because the fairy law states that any fairy who marries a mortal “must die,” but if followed, the law will put an end to fairies. The Lord Chancellor solves the problem with his legislative experience, claiming that adding the word don’t will save the fairy race. The Queen agrees, but then realizes that her life is in danger, so she turns to the sentry who had drawn her attention earlier, and the opera ends happily for Phyllis, Strephon, and everyone else, with all of the peers transformed into fairies.