"lOLANTHE" SYNOPSIS ACT II A c t II opens w ith the fairies in W estm inster where th e y poke fun at the unhappy Peers fo r the resounding success o f MP Strephon. As the Fairy Queen threa ten e d in A c t I, Strephon is advancing a bill to open the peerage to c o m p e titiv e exam ination! The Peers ask the fairies to stop Strephon's mischief, m odestly acclaiming th a t the House o f Peers is sim ply "n o t susceptible to any im p ro v e m e n t". A lth o u g h th e fairies say th a t the y cannot stop Strephon, they have becom e very much a ttracte d to the Peers and a ppear to be q uite taken w ith them ! Dism ayed by this overt display o f fairy affection, The Fairy Q ueen cites Private W illis o f th e First G renadier Guards as an exam ple o f how she is able to subdue her response to the effects o f manly beauty.
Phyllis and Strephon ask lolanthe to go to th e Lord Chancellor and plead fo r him to allow th e ir marriage. Impossible! she replies, fo r th e Lord Chancellor is her husband. The Lord C hancellor believes lolanthe to have died childless, and she is b ound not to "u n d e c e iv e " him, under penalty o f death. However, to save Strephon fro m losing his love, lolanthe decides to present his case to th e Lord Chancellor in disguise.
A lth o u g h th e Lord C hancellor is visibly moved by her appeal, which evokes the m em ory o f his lost wife, he declares th a t he himself will marry Phyllis, lolanthe desperately unveils, d esp ite the warnings o f th e unseen Fairies, revealing th a t she is his long-lost wife, and th a t Strephon is his son. The Lord C hancellor is amazed to see her alive, b u t lolanthe has again broken fairy law, and th e Fairy Yet, Phyllis cannot decide Queen is now left w ith no which o f th e tw o peers, choice b u t to punish Tolloller or M ountararat, lolanthe w ith death. As she she o u g h t to marry, and so prepares to execute she leaves th e choice up to lolanthe, the Q ueen learns the m . However, Tolloller th a t th e rest o f th e fairies tells M o u nta ra rat th a t his have all now chosen fam ily's tra d itio n w o uld husbands fro m am ong the require th e tw o Earls to peers, thus also incurring duel to th e death if the death sentences— b u t the la tte r w ere to claim Phyllis. Q ueen blanches at the The tw o decide th a t th e ir prospect o f slaughtering frie n dsh ip is more the w h ole com pany o f im p o rta n t than love, and fairies. The Lord Chancellor renounce th e ir claims to suggests a solution: change her. M eanwhile, the Lord O riginal costume design fo r lolanthe the law by inserting a single C hancellor has a nightm are b y Wilhelm w ord: every fairy w ho d ue to his u nrequited love " d o n 't" marry a m ortal shall fo r Phyllis. The tw o peers try die. The Fairy Queen cheerfully agrees and, to cheer him up. A t th e ir urging, the Lord to save her life, the d u tifu l soldier, Private C hancellor determ ines to bravely make Willis, agrees to marry her. Likewise, seeing ano the r e ffo rt to convince him self to award no reason to stay in th e m ortal realm if Phyllis to himself! Peers are to be recruited fro m persons o f A lth o u g h Strephon now leads b oth parties intelligence, th e Peers agree to jo in the in Parliament, he is miserable at losing his fairy ranks. They all sp ro ut wings, and love. Seeing Phyllis again, he finally "a w a y [they] g o to fairyland!" explains to her th a t his m o the r is a fairy, which accounts fo r a g o o d many things!