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H.M.S. Pinafore, or The Lass that Loved a Sailor, is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy Operas, and the first big hit by Gilbert and Sullivan. It opened at the Opera Comique in London on May 25 1878 for a run of 571 performances, which was the second longest run of any musical theatre piece up to that time (after the operetta Les Cloches de Corneville). H.M.S. Pinafore was Gilbert and Sullivan's fourth operatic collaboration.
Drawing on several of his earlier "Bab Ballad" poems, Gilbert imbued H.M.S. Pinafore with mirth and silliness to spare. The opera's gentle satire reprises and builds on a theme introduced in The Sorcerer - love between members of different social classes. The opera also pokes good-natured fun at the Royal Navy and, in themes to be repeated in the later operas, parliamentary politics and the rise of unqualified people to positions of authority. The title of the work itself is humorous, as it juxtaposes the name of a little girl's garment, pinafore, with the symbol of a naval war ship.
The plot revolves around a naval captain's daughter who is in love with a lower-class foremast hand (a common sailor, well below officer rank), even though her father intends her to marry the First Lord of the Admiralty, the cabinet minister in charge of the Royal Navy. As with most of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, a surprise twist changes everything dramatically near the end of the story.
Act I
The British warship H.M.S. Pinafore is in port at Portsmouth. It is noontime, and the sailors are on the quarterdeck, "cleaning brasswork, splicing rope, etc."
Little Buttercup, a Portsmouth "bumboat woman" (dockside vendor) - so-named because she is the "rosiest, roundest, and reddest beauty in all Spithead" - comes on board to sell her wares. She hints that she may be hiding a dark secret under her "gay and frivolous exterior". The Boatswain demurs that he's never thought about that, but the grim and ugly realist, Dick Deadeye, says he's "thought it, often". Ralph Rackstraw, "the smartest lad in all the fleet," enters, declaring his love for the Captain's daughter, Josephine. His fellow sailors (excepting Dick) offer their sympathies, but can give Ralph little hope that his love will ever be returned.
The Captain greets his crew and compliments them on their politeness, saying that he returns the compliment by never ("well, hardly ever") using bad language, such as "a big, big D." After the sailors have left, the Captain complains to Little Buttercup that Josephine has not taken kindly to a marriage proposal from Sir Joseph Porter, the First Lord of the Admiralty. Buttercup says that she knows how it feels to love in vain. As she leaves, the Captain remarks that she is "a plump and pleasing person." Josephine enters and confesses to her father that she loves a common sailor, but she is a dutiful daughter and will marry Sir Joseph as her father wishes.
Punch cartoon from a few months before H.M.S. Pinafore opened, satirising First Lord of the Admiralty W. H. Smith. Gilbert, too, would have Sir Joseph Porter sing "When the breezes blow / I generally go below".
Punch cartoon from a few months before H.M.S. Pinafore opened, satirising First Lord of the Admiralty W. H. Smith. Gilbert, too, would have Sir Joseph Porter sing "When the breezes blow / I generally go below".
Sir Joseph comes on board, accompanied by his sisters, cousins, and aunts. After telling everyone how he came to be "ruler of the Queen's Navee," he delivers a lesson in etiquette. He tells the Captain that he must always say "if you please" after an order; for, as he says, "A British sailor is any man's equal" - excepting his. Sir Joseph has composed a song to illustrate that point, and he gives a copy of it to Ralph.
Elated by Sir Joseph's views on equality, Ralph decides that he will confess his love to Josephine to the delight of his shipmates, except Dick, who explains that equality is incompatible with the giving and obeying of orders. In horror at his words, the sailors force Dick to listen to Sir Joseph's song before all exit, leaving Ralph alone. Josephine now enters, and Ralph confesses his love. Although she finds Sir Joseph's attentions nauseating, she knows she is obligated to marry him. Keeping her feelings to herself, she haughtily rejects Ralph's advances.
Ralph summons his shipmates, and tells them he is bent on suicide. He puts a pistol to his head, but as he is about to pull the trigger, Josephine enters, proclaiming she loves him after all. Ralph and Josephine plan to sneak ashore to get married that night. Dick Deadeye warns them that their actions will lead to trouble, but he is ignored by the joyous ensemble.
Act II
Later that night, under a full moon, Captain Corcoran confesses his concerns: all his friends are deserting him, and Sir Joseph has threatened a court-martial. Little Buttercup offers sympathy. He tells her that, if it were not for the difference in their social standing, he would have returned her affections. She prophesies that things are not all as they seem, and that a change is in store, but he does not understand her.
"She is my ship of life."
"She is my ship of life."
Sir Joseph enters, and complains that Josephine has not yet agreed to marry him. The Captain speculates that she is probably dazzled by his superior rank, and that if he can persuade her that "love levels all ranks," she will accept his proposal. When Sir Joseph makes this argument, a delighted Josephine says that she is convinced. The Captain and Sir Joseph rejoice, but Josephine, in an aside, admits that she is now more determined than ever to marry Ralph.
Dick Deadeye intercepts the Captain, and tells him of the lovers' plans to elope. The Captain confronts Ralph and Josephine as they try to leave the ship. The pair declare their love, adding that "I am (He is) an Englishman!" The furious Captain is unmoved, and says, "Why, damme, it's too bad!" Sir Joseph and his relatives, who have overheard, are shocked to hear swearing on board a ship, and Sir Joseph orders the Captain to his cabin.
When Sir Joseph asks what had provoked this outburst, Ralph replies that it was his declaration of love for Josephine. Furious in his turn at this revelation, Sir Joseph has Ralph put in chains and taken to the ship's dungeon. Little Buttercup now reveals her secret. Years before, when she was a nursemaid, she had cared for two babies, one "of low condition," the other "a regular patrician." She confesses that she "mixed those children up and not a creature knew it.... The wellborn babe was Ralph; your Captain was the other."
Sir Joseph now realizes that Ralph should have been the Captain, and the Captain should have been Ralph. He summons both, and they emerge wearing one another's uniforms: Ralph is now middle-class, and in command of the Pinafore, while the former Captain is now a common sailor. Sir Joseph's marriage with Josephine is now impossible. As he explains it, "love levels all ranks...to a considerable extent, but it does not level them as much as that." He gives her to now-Captain Rackstraw. The former Captain, with his rank reduced, is free to marry Buttercup. Sir Joseph settles for his cousin Hebe, and all ends in general rejoicing.
Themes
* Social structure of Britain for class differences
* Baby-farming, the historic method of paying for infants to be raised by others
* Overture
Act I
* 1. "We sail the ocean blue" (Sailors)
* 2. "Hail! men-o'-war's men" ... "I'm called Little Buttercup" (Buttercup)
* 2a. "But tell me who's the youth" (Buttercup and Boatswain)
* 3. "The nightingale" (Ralph and Chorus of Sailors)
* 3a. "A maiden fair to see" (Ralph and Chorus of Sailors)
* 4. "My gallant crew, good morning" (Captain Corcoran and Chorus of Sailors)
* 4a. "Sir, you are sad" (Buttercup and Captain Corcoran)
* 5. "Sorry her lot who loves too well" (Josephine)
* 5a. Cut song: "Reflect, my child" (Captain Corcoran and Josephine)
* 6. "Over the bright blue sea" (Chorus of Female Relatives)
* 7. "Sir Joseph's barge is seen" (Chorus of Sailors and Female Relatives)
* 8. "Now give three cheers" (Captain Corcoran, Sir Joseph, Cousin Hebe, and Chorus)
* 9. "When I was a lad" (Sir Joseph and Chorus)
* 9a. "For I hold that on the sea" (Sir Joseph, Cousin Hebe, and Chorus)
* 10. "A British tar" (Ralph, Boatswain, Carpenter's Mate, and Chorus of Sailors)
* 11. "Refrain, audacious tar" (Josephine and Ralph)
* 12. Finale, Act I: "Can I survive this overbearing?"
Act II
(Entr'acte)
* 13. "Fair moon, to thee I sing" (Captain Corcoran)
* 14. "Things are seldom what they seem" (Buttercup and Captain Corcoran)
* 15. "The hours creep on apace" (Josephine)
* 16. "Never mind the why and wherefore" (Josephine, Captain, and Sir Joseph)
* 17. "Kind Captain, I've important information" (Captain and Dick Deadeye)
* 18. "Carefully on tiptoe stealing" (Soli and Chorus)
* 18a."Pretty daughter of mine" (Captain and Ensemble) and "He is an Englishman" (Boatswain and Ensemble)
* 19. "Farewell, my own" (Ralph, Josephine, Sir Joseph Porter, Buttercup, and Chorus)
* 20. "A many years ago" (Buttercup and Chorus)
* 20a. "Here, take her, sir" (Sir Joseph, Josephine, Ralph, Cousin Hebe, and Chorus)
* 21. Finale: "Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen" (Ensemble)
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