<P> Iolanthe ; or , The Peer and the Peri ( / aɪ. oʊ ˈlænθiː / ) is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert . It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert and Sullivan . In the opera , the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal ; this is forbidden by fairy law . Her son , Strephon , is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis , a Ward of Chancery . All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis . When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman ( not knowing that it is his mother -- immortal fairies all appear young ) , she assumes the worst and sets off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies . The opera satirises many aspects of British government , law and society . The confrontation between the fairies and the peers is a version of one of Gilbert 's favourite themes : a tranquil civilisation of women is disrupted by a male - dominated world through the discovery of mortal love . </P>
<P> Iolanthe ; or , The Peer and the Peri ( / aɪ. oʊ ˈlænθiː / ) is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W.S. Gilbert . It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert and Sullivan . In the opera , the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal ; this is forbidden by fairy law . Her son , Strephon , is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis , a Ward of Chancery . All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis . When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman ( not knowing that it is his mother -- immortal fairies all appear young ) , she assumes the worst and sets off a climactic confrontation between the peers and the fairies . The opera satirises many aspects of British government , law and society . The confrontation between the fairies and the peers is a version of one of Gilbert 's favourite themes : a tranquil civilisation of women is disrupted by a male - dominated world through the discovery of mortal love . </P>
comic operetta by gilbert & sullivan about a band of immortal fairies
comic operetta by gilbert & sullivan about a band of immortal fairies
Iolanthe ; or , The Peer and the Peri
Iolanthe ; or , The Peer and the Peri