his money, including £7,000 of Sullivan's investments, the bulk of his fortune. Sullivan's lifestyle was not inexpensive, and he was helping to support his late brother's large family, as well as his mistress, Fanny Ronalds, and her family. He soon concluded that the only certain way to restore his financial security was to continue writing Savoy operas. On 8 February 1883, he signed a new five-year creative partnership agreement with Gilbert and Carte; Gilbert was already at work on their next piece, Princess Ida. On 22 May 1883, Sullivan was knighted by Queen Victoria for his "services ... rendered to the promotion of the art of music" in Britain. Roles The Lord Chancellor (comic baritone) George, Earl of Mountararat (baritone) Thomas, Earl Tolloller (tenor) Private Willis, of the Grenadier Guards (bass) Strephon, an Arcadian Shepherd (baritone) Queen of the Fairies (contralto) Iolanthe, a Fairy, Strephon's mother (mezzo-soprano) Celia, a Fairy (soprano) Leila, a Fairy (mezzo-soprano) Fleta, a Fairy (speaking role/chorus) Phyllis, an Arcadian Shepherdess and Ward in Chancery (soprano) Chorus of Dukes, Marquises, Earls, Viscounts, Barons, and Fairies Synopsis Act I The beloved fairy Iolanthe, who arranged the fairies' songs and dances, committed the capital crime (under fairy law) of marrying a mortal man. The Queen of the fairies commuted Iolanthe's sentence of death to banishment for life on the condition that she left her husband and never communicated with him again. After the passage of 25 years, the fairies, still missing Iolanthe deeply, plead with their Queen to pardon Iolanthe and to restore her place in fairyland ("Tripping hither, tripping thither"). Summoned by the Fairy Queen ("Iolanthe! From thy dark exile thou art summoned"), Iolanthe rises from the frog-infested stream that has been her home in exile. The Queen, unable to bear punishing her any longer, pardons Iolanthe, who is warmly greeted by the other fairies. Iolanthe tells her sisters that she has a son, Strephon, noting that he's a fairy down to the waist, but his legs are mortal. The fairies laugh that Iolanthe appears too young to have a grown son, as one of the advantages of a fairy's immortality is that they never grow old. Strephon, a handsome Arcadian shepherd, arrives and meets his aunts ("Good-morrow, good mother"). He tells Iolanthe of his love for the Lord Chancellor's ward of court, the beautiful Phyllis, who does not know of Strephon's mixed origin. Strephon is despondent, however,