Summary: Capitalism and Colonialism [Utopia]
MUSI 730
Assignment 1
- Williams, Carolyn. “Capitalism and Colonialism: Utopia Unlimited.” Chapter 13 (pp. 325-343) in Gilbert and Sullivan: Gender, Genre, Parody. Columbia: University Press, 2011.
Utopia, Limited, alternately entitled The Flowers of Progress, is the penultimate work from W.S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan. This work is their most exorbitant and large-cast production with 18 characters, including King Paramount, his three princess daughters, Lady Sophy (an English governess), a delegation of perfect English gentlemen, and several others.
Opening in 1893 at the Savoy Theatre and running for approximately 245 shows, Utopia tells the story of a small, undeveloped south sea island of Utopia (home to the languid and lazy people) under the monarch rule of King Paramount; he is kept in check by the two local Wise Men (judges). The principal absurd reversal in the play is that the “primitives” actively invite, rather than resist, colonization, in contrast to actual British colonialism. With a deep infatuation for English culture, King Paramount enlists the help of English governess Lady Sophy to school his daughters in the ways of the Brits and, hopefully, to woo her into affection. Things do not go per plan for the King as Lady Sophy is turned off by his repugnant reputation from the local newspaper (wherein the Wise Men force the king to write scandalous “fake news” about himself as part of their attempts at control).
Amid King Paramount’s turmoil his eldest daughter, Princess Zara, returns after five years of being away at college in England. Embarrassed by her father’s reputation, Princess Zara devises a plan to completely remodel the social and political structure of Utopia. In doing so she enlists the help of The Flowers of Progress, six male representatives from England who she claims “make England the powerful, happy, and blameless country which the consensus of European civilization has declared it to be.” Through their influence The Flowers of Progress change everything about Utopia until it is a model of English lifestyle—perfection—as seen from the dramatic change in dress of the Utopian natives in Act 1 to Act 2. Musical allusions to “Rule Britannia” occur frequently. The control over every facet of their lives and realization that the English law has proven to be no greater than Utopian law proves too great for the Utopian natives which leads to upset from the judges who prompt the citizens to revolt. Princess Zara then realizes she left out an important detail: for Utopia, Limited to be successfully British, there must be Government by Party!—with legislative gridlock of opposing political forces that halts “progress.” With the new system in place all previous rules are undone, everyone marries each other, and all live happily ever after.
Gilbert’s parody of the Victorian invention of “limited liability” (the limitation of a bankrupt business’s debt to a fixed sum, thus cheating creditors) is seen throughout the first act where it becomes a kind of no-fault government and economy. He satirizes this eagerly adopted crony capitalism with mentions to international and national events such as the Panama Canal Scandal and the Glasgow Bank fraud case of 1878.
Sources
Williams' sources include academic texts from multiple gender and culture studies.