A hilarious twist on a traditional medieval fairy tale, Princess Ida tells the tale of a Princess, who eschews her marriage obligations to the Prince of a neighbouring kingdom, to run a women’s university.

Prince Hilarion has been waiting for his wedding day for twenty years, after he was betrothed to Princess Ida when they were infants.

Unswayed, Hilarion dresses up as a maiden and sneaks into the women’s compound, accompanied by his friends, Cyril and Florian, who are forced to dress up too.

Once in the college, various girls attending discover their secret. These girls attempt to keep the knowledge from Ida but eventually she discovers and apprehends the intruders.

Princess Ida satirizes feminism, women’s education, masculine pugnacity and militarism, some of which were controversial topics in conservative Victorian England.

It is based on an 1847 narrative poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson called “The Princess”; Gilbert had written a farcical musical play based on the poem in 1870. In 1884, he lifted much of the dialogue of Princess Ida directly from his 1870 farce.

Music by Arthur Sullivan;
Lyrics by W.S. Gilbert.