A scene from W. S. Gilbert's 1870 musical farce The Princess, a parody of Tennyson's epic poem The Princess: A Medley, which was a tale of a prince cross-dressing in order to get access to a princess who shuns the world of men. In the play, the prince and his companions were portrayed by women pretending to be men pretending to be women. It later became the basis of the comic opera Princess Ida.Image credit: D. H. Friston, Illustrated London News