| Ko-Ko. |
| Are you old enough to marry, do you think? Won't you wait till you are eighty in the shade? There's a fascination frantic In a ruin that's romantic; Do you think you are sufficiently decayed? |
| Katisha. |
| To the matter that you mention I have given some attention, And I think I am sufficiently decayed. |
Ever since I was exposed to the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan back in junior high school (that was before middle schools were invented), I've had an enduring love for The Mikado: the music, the dialog, and especially the unforgettably silly characters. I was privileged to see a performance of The Mikado by the D'Oyle Carte Opera Comapny in their home theater in London (before its demise in 1982 after over a century of Gilbert and Sullivan performances). The tragi-comic figure of Katisha (the character who put the 'old' in 'old maid'), in this passage being wooed by Ko-Ko (the Lord High Executioner who faces a choice of marriage to Katisha or death), serves as a stark contrast to the young, star-crossed lovers: the beautiful Yum-Yum (betrothed to Ko-Ko) and the handsome minstrel, Nanki-Poo (the emperor's son in disguise, condemned to death for flirting). It all gets very complicated. Today, it's so much simpler with online dating: "ISO ['in search of'] 18-29". Over 30 need not apply. Who knew that the slogan "Don't trust anyone over 30" would shape the world of online dating decades later?
