Changing Gender Conventions in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience
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Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy Changing Gender Conventions in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Patience, Iolanthe and Princess Ida Supervisor: Paper submitted in partial Prof. dr. Marianne Van Remoortel fulfilment of the requirements for 2014 - 2015 the degree of “Master in de Taal- en Letterkunde: Engels” by Chloë Carrette Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank my supervisor Prof. dr. Marianne Van Remoortel for helping me develop my thesis and for her guidance throughout the year. Her insights and comments, but mainly her enthusiasm concerning my research, encouraged me to complete this thesis to the best of my ability. Secondly, I would like to thank Prof. dr. Koenraad Claes for encouraging me to take on the challenge of writing a thesis about Gilbert and Sullivan. His guidance last year helped me to improve my writing, but what he mainly taught me is that hard work pays off. And lastly I would like to thank my parents and my brother for supporting me through my four years of University, and for giving me the opportunity to enjoy a higher education. But I would mainly like to thank them for putting up with my bad mood when things were not going how I wanted them to go. Chloë Carrette May 2015 Contents 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 2. Gilbert and Sullivan ............................................................................................................... 3 2.1. Biography ....................................................................................................................... 3 2.2. Style ................................................................................................................................ 4 3. Victorian Gender conventions ............................................................................................... 7 3.1. Conventional gender norms ............................................................................................ 7 3.2. Changing gender norms .................................................................................................. 9 3.2.1. Aestheticism ............................................................................................................ 9 3.2.2. Feminism and the New Woman ............................................................................ 11 3.2.3. Challenging gender conventions............................................................................ 14 4. Patience ................................................................................................................................ 15 4.1. Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 16 4.2. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 25 5. Iolanthe ................................................................................................................................ 26 5.1. Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 26 5.2. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 37 6. Princess Ida .......................................................................................................................... 39 6.1. Analysis ........................................................................................................................ 39 6.2. Conclusion .................................................................................................................... 52 7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 54 8. Works Cited ......................................................................................................................... 58 Words: 24.058 1. Introduction At the end of the nineteenth century, Great Britain gave rise to a new standard for musical- stage entertainment. With the collaboration between Gilbert and Sullivan from 1871 to 1896, a new type of comic operetta rose and changed the British entertainment scene (Kenrick 76, 2008). During these last decades of the nineteenth century, there were also some changes concerning the established gender conventions, due to the rise of two movements. The artistic movement Aestheticism gained popularity and also the feminist New Woman was advancing, which both had an influence on the conventional gender norms and roles in Victorian society. Both movements were seen as overtly challenging sexual codes and they were perceived as being a threat to the Victorian domestic ideology (Ledger 1997, 95). As Gilbert and Sullivan in their works often dealt with aspects of Victorian society which where relevant at the time, it is not surprising that also these changing gender norms and the two movements which embody them, Aestheticism and the New Woman movement, are addressed in their work. Although many scholars have discussed Gilbert and Sullivan because of their role as pioneers of a new musical-stage entertainment, not many have focussed on gender in their oeuvre. Carolyn Williams however, did recently make an exhaustive study in Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody (2011). Besides focussing on genre in the Gilbert and Sullivan oeuvre, Williams extensively discusses the gender issues in Princess Ida, Patience and Iolanthe. The study makes some very good points as to how gender is treated in the operettas, and Williams’ main argument is that Gilbert and Sullivan attempt to demonstrate the absurdity of Victorian gender conventions in their work. She claims that “Gilbert and Sullivan’s operas intensely inhabit and perform Victorian gender conventions and stereotypes in order to demonstrate their absurdity” (Williams 2011, 17). Her main point is thus that the operettas mainly parody gender conventions. Although Williams makes a very good analysis of the three operettas and makes some very good arguments about how gender conventions are mocked, I would want to argue that the three operettas also parody changing gender conventions. In this thesis I will therefore focus on how Gilbert and Sullivan mock unconventional sexuality itself, rather than using the changing gender norms to comment on conventional gender roles as Williams argues. My research will therefore be an exhaustive study of how Patience, Iolanthe and Princess Ida parody the changing gender conventions and roles of the Victorian era. There are many ways in which changing gender norms are addressed, but I will mainly focus on how Aestheticism and the New Women movement, and the changing gender roles which those two movements embody, are parodied. 1 In this thesis I will first very shortly discuss Gilbert and Sullivan, after that I will go into how their collaboration came about, and then I will discuss how they worked and what the typical characteristics of their operettas are. After that I will cover the Victorian domestic ideology, and I will discuss Aestheticism and the feminist New Woman movement and the way they both challenge gender conventions. Then I will extensively discuss Patience, Iolanthe and Princess Ida as to how they can be seen as a parody on the changing gender conventions, and finally I will draw a conclusion. 2 2. Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan are often mentioned in one breath but it was not until 1871 that the two men worked together. In total they collaborated on 14 operettas from 1871 to 1896, and during this period they developed their own style. First I will very shortly discuss their lives before their collaboration, and then I will go into how their partnership came about and how it evolved leading to their separation in 1896. After that I will discuss how the men usually worked, I will go into some typical aspects of their operettas and lastly I will very shortly mention why their works can be defined as parodies. 2.1. Biography William Schwenck Gilbert was born in 1836 in London. During his youth he travelled through Europe, but the Gilbert family ultimately settled down in London. From 1857 to 1866 he made career as a government clerk and barrister, but during that time he also contributed drawings, prose and verse to the popular comic journal Fun (Crowther 1997). His most famous contribution to the journal are The Bab Ballads, a collection of ballads published under his pen-name Bab during the years he worked for Fun (Farron). Gilbert’s first professionally-performed play was Uncle Baby, which was staged in 1863. Later he also produced some burlesques and pantomimes, such as Dulcamara (1866), which according to Crowther made him famous. He eventually started writing for the Gallery of Illustration, a small theatre, which allowed him to develop a personal style since he did not have to worry about the interference of stage-managers. During the same period he also wrote some fairy comedies which he displayed at the Haymarket Theatre. Later he became involved in many plays, and even published volumes of his work (Crowther 1997). Arthur Seymour Sullivan was born in 1842 in London. He came in contact with music at a very early age, as his father was a theatre musician. He was admitted as one of the Children of the Chapel Royal, in which he was one of soloists. In 1856 he won a scholarship, which enabled him to