On Apr 8, 3:42=A0pm, chromolume <jongoldb...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> One of the challenges of the G&S operettas is that, as satires often
> do, they were written with a wink toward G&S's own contem****ary world.
> "Patience" takes its cues from the Britsh aesthetic movement, and if
> you don't know what that was, you might have a hard time understanding
> what's going on - which can make it somewhat confusing (and not quite
> as funny) for a modern, American audience. Similarly, "The Mikado" was
> in part a nod to the British obsession with all things Japanese.
> So of course it can turn into what seems like a parody of
> Japanese culture, instead of a parody of the new-found British love
> for Japanese culture (and, as always in G&S, a satire on British
> politics.)
So their work can act like Lewis Caroll in that The Queen of Hearts
can yell out, "Off with his head!" on a whim?
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