Hicks, William L, Social Discourse in the Savoy Theatre's Productions of The Nautch
Girl (1891) and Utopia Limited (1893): Exoticism and Victorian Self-Reflection. Master of
Music (Musicology), August 2003, 107 pp., 4 illustrations, 12 musical examples, references, 91
titles.
As a consequence to Gilbert and Sullivan's famed Carpet Quarrel, two operettas with
decidedly "exotic" themes, The Nautch Girl, or, The Rajah of Chutneypore, and Utopia Limited,
or, The Flowers of Progress were presented to London audiences. Neither has been accepted as
part of the larger Savoy canon. This thesis considers the conspicuous business atmosphere of
their originally performed contexts to understand why this situation arose.
Critical social theory makes it possible to read the two documents as overt reflections on
British imperialism. Examined more closely, however, the operettas reveal a great deal more
about the highly introverted nature of exotic representation and the ambiguous dialogue between
race and class hierarchies in late nineteenth-century British society.