The Grand Duke

Or

The Statutory Duel

"All Grand Dukes have their little fancies, my love. This potentate appears to be collecting wives."

Creation

In the summer of 1895 Gilbert half-heartedly brought the plan for a new libretto, The Grand Duke. Sullivan set it to music even though he thought that some of the dialogue was boring and redundant.

Gilbert announced even before The Grand Duke was produced that its libretto would be his last. The Grand Duke opened March 7, 1896.

Plot Synopsis

The Grand Duke opens on a chorus of actors and actresses. Two members of their company, Lisa and Ludwig are getting married. Everyone is eating the wedding food, although the wedding hasn’t happened yet. All the parsons are with the Grand Duke, who is consulting them about his coming wedding with the Baroness Von Krakenfeldt.

Everyone is very annoyed with the Grand Duke. They say he is “the meanest, the cruelest, the most spiteful little ape in Christendom!” It seems the Grand Duke will not be a duke for long, because “tomorrow the Despot to be dethroned.” All the members of the theatrical company are in on the plot. Their secret sign is to eat a sausage roll.

The manager of the theater company, Ernest Dummkopf will be the next Grand Duke. All the other members will be given places about the court according to their professional precedence.

Alone, Dummkopf admits that he is in love with Julia, an English comedienne. What do you know, but in comes Julia. She is disdainful of his passion for her. She reluctantly tells him that she is in an awkward position. Since she plays the leading lady all the time, she must be the Grand Duchess – Dummkopf’s wife. Dummkopf is delighted, but Julia is not. She doesn’t love him, but she likes the part.

In walks the chorus. Apparently, Ludwig had met someone in a restaurant. He ate a sausage roll to see if the man was in on the conspiracy. The man ate three in return. Ludwig inadvertently revealed the whole conspiracy to this man who turned out to be that Grand Duke’s private detective.

Dummkopf was furious. Dummkopf, Ludwig, Lisa, and Julia argue about what to do, while a notary watches them, chuckling. He tells them “it is always amusing to the legal mind to see a parcel of laymen bothering themselves about a matter which to a trained lawyer presents no difficulty whatever.”

The notary tells them that all the laws in the duchy of Pfennig Halbpfennig go for exactly one hundred years. There is a law that will end the next day called the Statutory Duel. A statutory duel was put in place to stop young men killing each other. Instead, they’d draw cards. The person with the lowest card “dies” and the winner takes the loser’s place, gaining their possessions, wife, land, and so forth. The loser is legally dead, and does not exist.

The notary tells them that Ludwig and Dummkopf should “duel” and the survivor should go to the Grand Duke and say that the dead man was the spirit of the revolution. The survivor would get a pardon. Then, when the law expires, the dead man can come to life. Death expunges crime, so the dead man would come back with a clean slate. Everyone likes this idea.

Dummkopf draws a card first, and gets a king. Ludwig draws an ace, and wins. Everyone dances off.

The Grand Duke Rudolph enters, followed by his betrothed, the Baroness Von Krakenfeldt. He tells her that he is betrothed to the Princess of Monte Carlo. The betrothal expires the next day. The Prince of Monte Carlo is broke, and can’t leave his house for fear of being arrested.

The Grand Duke reads the report by his detective, and finds out about the conspiracy Ludwig accidentally revealed. Ludwig comes in. Rudolph says “if I could only hit upon some cheap and painless method of putting an end to an existence which has become insupportable, I would unhesitatingly adopt it!” Ludwig suggests using a statutory duel.

Rudolph contrives to lose by slipping a king up his sleeve, while Ludwig slips an ace up his sleeve. Ludwig will be “blown up” instead of Rudolph, and Rudolph will come alive again, unharmed the next day. They carry out the plan, and Ludwig wins (no duh).

Ludwig keeps the promise to give the theater company places about the court. But that means Julia has to be Ludwig’s wife. They have to marry. Poor Lisa wanders off, weeping.

Act two opens on the chorus celebrating the marriage of Ludwig and Julia the next day. In comes the Baroness Von Krakenfeldt, in a rage. She is mad, because she is to marry the Grand Duke that day, and hasn’t been expected. She is told that Rudolph “expired”, so she can’t marry him. Ludwig revived the Statutory Duel rule for another hundred years.

The Baroness reminds him that Ludwig picked up all of the responsibilities of the Grand Duke. That means Ludwig has to marry her. Julia is crushed – she can no longer be a Grand Duchess.

Dummkopf tries to talk to Lisa, who runs away, as if she’s “seen a ghost”, which she has. He finally succeeds in talking to Julia. He asks her to be his wife. Julia says she can’t because he is dead, and bids him good day.

Everyone comes in, celebrating the marriage of Ludwig and the Baroness Von Krakenfeldt. They hear the approaching of a party. The Prince of Monte Carlo has arrived with his daughter. They have arrived right on time. If they had come an hour later, the betrothal would have been void. The Princess is shocked that Ludwig already has three wives. He is about to be married to her, when in walks the notary, with Rudolph and Dummkopf.

Apparently, when the notary consulted the Statutory Duel’s rules and ace is low. That means all the things Ludwig did after he “won” against Dummkopf don’t count, because he was, in a legal sense, dead. Julia finally accepts Dummkopf’s offer of marriage. Rudolph will marry the Princess of Monte Carlo. Ludwig will finally marry Lisa. Everyone goes off to perform the ceremonies. Who knows what happens to the Baroness Von Krakenfeldt.

Public Reception