The Beggars Opera : The First Musical

A Brief Summary
Polly Peachum falls in love with and marries the womanizing
1
highwayman
2
,
Captain Macheath.
Unfortunately, Thomas Peachum and his wife, Pollys parents
3
, oppose the marriage.
Thomas is both a fence
4
and at the same time a thief- taker

and he de!ides to destroy

"a!heath.
#e has him arreste
$
and sent to %ewgate Prison.
There the gaoler
&
s daughter, !ucy !ocket, who is pregnant by "a!heath, engineers his
es!ape.
#owever, "a!heath is re!aptured and !ondemned to the gallows
'
.
%evertheless, before the e(e!ution !an ta)e pla!e, the "eggar-playwright intervenes to
give the play a false happy ening, in a!!ordan!e with !ontemporary tastes.
Metatheatre
The #enesis of $ohn #ay%s Musical
The Beggars Opera is the only *nglish+language play from 1&,1 to 1&&, that has stoo
the test of time
-
.
.hile /ays play was !ertainly written in a theatri!al desert, it is nonetheless
1,
a great
play, whi!h is still regularly performed by repertoire !ompanies.
1
womanizing 0 philandering, 1asanova+li)e
2
highwayman 0 robber, bandit
3
one%s parents 0 ones mother and father
4
fence 0 s.o. who illegally sells stolen property

thief-taker 0 2historical3 type of bounty hunter, s.o. who re!eived !ompensation for !apturing delin4uents
$
to ha&e s'o' arreste 0 organi5e s.os detention
&
gaoler 0 6ailor, prison guard
'
the gallows 0 e(e!ution by hanging
-
to stan the test of time 2stand+stood+stood3 0 !ontinue to be popular
1,
nonetheless 0 despite this, even so
(eal-!ife (ogues
11
7ohn /ay 21$'+1&323 based Pea!hum on $onathan )il 21$'3+1&23, a real+life
fence-cum-thief-taker
12
.
8etween 1&12 and 1&2 .ild amassed a fortune by returning stolen goos
13
to their
owners 2for a !ommission3 and by informing on
14
rival criminals
1
.
#e sent over *+ thie&es
1$
to the gallows
-
during this period, before ening up
1&
there
himself.
"a!heath represents $ack Sheppar, a gallant "urglar
1'
!ondemned by .ild, who
es!aped from prison a !ouple of times before being finally hanged.
9t the same time he also represents the !hief offi!ers of the South-Sea Company
,-
,
who were :sa!rifi!ed by the .hig
.+
Prime "inister, ;ir <obert .alpole.
7ohn /ay had lost the money he had earned from his !olle!ted poems when the ;outh+
;ea Bu""le
21
"urst
22
.
11
rogue 0 villain, !riminal
12
fence-cum-thief-taker 0 s.o. who is both a fen!e
4
and a thief+ta)er

13
goos 0 belongings, possessions, property
14
to inform on s'o' 0 report s.o. to the poli!e
1
criminal 0 2false friend3 delin4uent
1$
thief 2plural :thieves3 0 robber
1&
to en up 0 2in this context3 be e(e!uted
1'
"urglar 0 s.o. who robs from homes and offi!es
1-
a speculati&e &enture 2= business3 which went "ankrupt in ,/.+0 seriously e"ilitating the British economy' See Think
1,', pp. 1,+11
2,
the )higs 1who in the en "ecame the !i"eral Party2 represente "usiness an commercial interests
21
"u""le 0 2in this context3 !y!le of spe!ulatively inflated pri!es
22
to "urst 2burst+burst+burst3 0 !ollapse
Satirizing 3pera 4 Politics
The Beggars Opera 21&2'3 was part of a great wave of satire in 8ritain in the 1&2,s and
it is no !oin!iden!e that it appeared almost simultaneously with
;wifts Gullivers Travels 21&2$3 and
Popes The Dunciad 21&2'3.
The three friends 0 and literary giants of their age 0 were all Tories
.5
under a .hig
/overnment that was to !ontinue well after all of them were dead.
/ay, ;wift, Pope and others formed The Scri"lerus Clu" in 1&14.
The name refers to Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus 2published 1&413,
mostly by >r 7ohn 9rbuthnot, a satire on literary in!ompeten!e.
/ay was also friends with <i!hard ;teele.
6nee
24
, the original idea for the play !ame from ;wifts suggestion to Pope that one of
them should write a :7ewgate Pastoral
.8
.
There is, in fa!t, a dire!t referen!e to .alpole?
+ one of Pea!hums gang is names as :Bo" Booty, whi!h was .alpoles ni!)name.
.alpole went to see the play and 0 either be!ause he didnt get the satire or be!ause he
didnt want to lose fa!e 0 !alled for an en!ore at the end of the play.
9t the time the *nglish theatre was dominated by revivals of the plays of previous
generations and literally nobody was making a li&ing from
2$
writing new plays in the
mid+1&2,s.
This was be!ause
it was cheaper to revive an old play than to pay for a new one.
plays with an established reputation were almost guarantee to succee.
an established play wouln%t "e censure, a new one might be.
theatre managers were more interested in new staging techni9ues and new
methos of acting.
;o, it was almost insane
2&
that /ay !hose this moment to write one of the most original
plays in the whole of *nglish drama as a way out of
2'
his own "ankruptcy
2-
.
#owever, he had the insight
3,
to see that @talian operas were ripe to "e satirize
31
be!ause they were?
plays whi!h were so simplistic that they !ould be understood in a foreign languageA
produ!tions that were so artificial that they starre
32
castrati
33

23
the Tories 1who "ecame the Conser&ati&e Party2 represente the Anglican Church hierarchy an the aristocracy
24
inee 0 2emphatic3 in fa!t
2
i'e' an iyllic poem a"out the innocent occupants of 7ewgate Prison
2$
to make a li&ing from 2ma)e+made+made3 0 earn enough to survive
2&
insane 0 mad, !ra5y
2'
a way out of 0 a way to es!ape from
2-
"ankruptcy 0 finan!ial diffi!ulties
3,
insight 0 perspi!a!ity, intelligen!e
31
: was ripe to "e satirize 0 it was the perfe!t moment to satiri5e B
32
to star 0 have in !entral roles, feature
33
castrati 0 singers who had been !astrated before adoles!en!e to :preserve their voi!es
The fight s!ene between Polly and Cu!y mo!)s
Francesca Cuzzoni and Faustina Boroni,
the two leading prima donnas at the time in Condon.
Their rivalry was su!h that in 1&2& they had a !at fight 2s!rat!hing and pulling hair3 on
stage in front of the audien!eD
/ay ingeniously too) the tunes of popular 0 often "awy 0 songs and gave them
sugary+sweet lyri!s
+ !reating the effe!t of the impli!ations of the musi! contraicting the lyri!s.
/ay also fo!used on a !lass that had been largely ignored by dramatists up to that time,
though he )new the bourgeois audien!e were 6ust as fas!inated by villains as they were
by aristo!rats.
The newspapers of the 1&1,s and 1&2,s were full of stories about rogues.
*ven so, /ay did have some pre!edents to base his wor) on, espe!ially the lowlife
s!enes from 7a!obethan drama?
;ha)espeares 1 and 2 Henry IV 2the s!enes with "rs Eui!)ly, >oll Tearsheet,
Pistol and %ym3
"iddleton and <owleys The Changeling 2the madhouse s!enes3
The tradition !ould even be tra!ed ba!) to the fa"liau;.
@n any !ase the gam"le pai off
34
A
The Beggars Opera was the most successful 8ritish play up to that time
3

and it earned /ay the enormous sum of F',,.
The plays produ!er 7ohn <i!h earned even more.
6nee
2$
, it was said that The Beggars Opera made <i!h gay
3$
, and /ay ri!h.
1onventionally, opera fo!uses on high so!iety.
8y !entring his musi!al on the criminal
3&
!lasses /ay !omments that the sins
3'
of the
upper class
3-
and those of the lower !lasses are similar.
The differen!e is that the poor are punishe
4,
for their sins.
34
the gam"le pai off 0 the ris) was well rewarded 2= !ompensated3
3
up to that time 0 so far, until that time
3$
gay 0 2in this context3 happy
3&
criminal 2ad6.3 0 2false friend3 delin4uent
3'
sins 0 immoral a!ts, 2in this context3 illegal a!ts
3-
the upper class 0 the aristo!ra!y and the bourgeoisie, the ri!h
4,
to punish 0 dis!ipline, penali5e
Topsy-Tur&y <alues
The !onventional assumption in moralisti! drama is that
the good end happily and the bad end unhappily
=,
.
/ay turns all su!h assumptions on their hea
42
.
The criteria
43
for the plays ironi! morality are those of
the thieves en
44
,
the "rothel
4
and
the prison.
The rogues
13
argue, !onvin!ingly, that the ri!h steal to hoar
4$
moneyA
rogues do so to spend it, whi!h is its natural purpose.
8rilliantly, "rs Pea!hum chies
4&
her daughter for marrying "a!#eath, and so bringing
publi! dishonour on the family, when she !ould have >ust
4'
slept with him in se!retD
The play brilliantly shows how so!iety as!ribes values to people a!!ording to their
gender or !lass, irrespe!tive of their a!tions?
;o, the 2young3 women are insistently defined as :whore, :hussy, :strumpet and :slut
in dire!t !ontradi!tion to all the eviden!e that they are !onstant and the men are
promis!uous.
;imilarly, the poor are defined as :rogues and :villains when we see that the authorities
2Pea!hum, Co!)et and those they wor) for3 are mu!h more villainous and !orrupt.
"att of the "int metaphori!ally states that,
G9s a bawd to a whore, @ grant you, he H= Pea!humI is to us of great !onvenien!eJ 2&13.
#en!e, here a !omparison is drawn that e4uates the industry of thievery to that of
prostitution.
;e(ual relations are parasiti!?
"en li)e "a!#eath get women pregnant by sweet+tal)ing them, then abandon them to
their only option? prostitution.
9t the same time, prostitutes !an finan!ially ruin men, thus !ondemning them to
transportation.
"rs Ki(en boasts that she has sent some 3, men to the plantations 2as indentured
labour3 H9!t @@, ;!ene @@@, line &&I.
41
as Miss Prism says in The Importance of Being Earnest
42
to turn sth' on its hea 0 reverse sth.
43
criterion 2plural :!riteria3 0 basis
44
en 0 2in this context3 hideout, safe house
4
"rothel 0 house of prostitution
4$
to hoar 0 !olle!t, a!!umulate, amass, 2opposite of :use3
4&
to chie 0 s!old, reprimand
4'
>ust 0 2in this context3 simply
The only !hara!ters who e&ol&e are the two young women?
Polly learns to be less !redulous and Cu!y less furious.
%oti!e that the two young women are the only li)eable !hara!ters in the play.
Though there are more synonyms for :whore in this play that pra!ti!ally any other,
/ay does not paint a negative pi!ture of women 2or, if you prefer, he paints a mu!h
more negative one of men3.
"eanwhile, the prostitutes affe!t the manners of high+born ladies.
Capitalism ? (eification
9ll relations in /ays play are reified.
Pea!hum sees his asso!iates in finan!ial termsA
he also says that wives should see husbands in terms of their :widow value.
"a!#eath a!!umulates women as others a!!umulate money.
Co!)et turns the 6ob of gaoler into that of hotelier.
The :sha!)les s!ene 29!t 2, ;!ene &3 in whi!h /aoler Co!)et :sells "a!heath his
sha!)les is a wonderful parody of a tailorLshop)eeper selling !lothes and !omplements.
#owever, it also highlights the fa!t that it is only the poor who go to prison, not the
ri!h.
G@f @ had the best gentleman in the land in my !ustody, @ !ould not e4uip him more
handsomely.J
Prisoners with suffi!ient finan!es !an pay for their :es!ape, or have the !ases against
them run aground when a witness !hanges hisLher re!olle!tion.
G"oney well timed, and properly applied, will do anything.J 2"a!heath3
1riminality and the !ourts are simply different aspe!ts of the same !orrupt system.
The prostitutes obviously turn se( into a finan!ial e(!hange.
Cife has a pri!e.
7emmy Twit!her is even paid to get arrested prostitutes pregnant so that they !an es!ape
from deportation.
The system, whi!h leads to an overpopulation of unwanted prostitutes !hildren, is self+
perpetuating.
7ame #ames
1aptain "a!#eath is the womanizing
1
anti+hero of the pie!e.
9 :heath is an area of wild !ountryside where the soil
4-
is too poor for crops
,
.
This type of pla!e was the preferred area of operation for highwaymen
2
.
Peachum is a brilliant pun
1
. Pea!hum sounds li)e Gpea!h emJ 2= them3.
@n the !ase of Pollys father, Thomas Pea!hum, :to pea!h means :to a!!use 2from an
apheti! abbreviation of :impeach
2
3.
Thomas Pea!hum is the least attra!tive person in a play full of villains.
#e is a lawyer who fences
3
stolen goos
1
.
"oreover, he in!riminates his asso!iates when it suits
4
him.
#is !yni!ism is of epi! proportions.
#e !ompares himself to a great statesman and the audien!e is meant to

see Prime
"inister ;ir (o"ert )alpole refle!ted in him.
Thomas Pea!hums siekick
$
is !ockit the 7ailor.
The pun here is more obvious? :lo!) it. Co!)it represents .alpoles asso!iate Cord
Townsend.
#is daughter, Cu!y 2:loose
&
+yM3 is Pollys rival for "a!#eaths love.
@roni!ally, however, the gaolers daughters name is based on that of a real person?
Cu!y Co!)it, a famous !ourtesan at the time of 1harles @@.
4-
soil 0 land, earth, terrain
,
crops 0 growing grain, agrarian produ!tion
1
pun 0 pie!e of wordplay, play on words
2
to impeach 0 indi!t, prose!ute
3
to fence 0 illegally sell 2stolen goods3
4
to suit s'o' 0 be !onvenientLopportune for s.o.

is meant to 0 is supposed to
$
siekick 0 asso!iate, subordinate
&
loose 0 2in this context3 promis!uous
The @&olution of Musicals
Under the puritani!al laws of 3li&er Cromwell drama was theoreti!ally banned.
#owever, the ban !ould be !ir!umvented if the plays
were staged in private houses, and
all their words were set to musi!
ma)ing theatri!al produ!tions into essentially musi!al events.
This !reated a taste for musi!al drama whi!h !ontinued after the reopening of the
theatres in 1$$,.
/ay en6oyed @talian opera and even wrote librettos for #andels Acis and Galatea
2performed 1&323 and Achilles 2performed 21&333
/ay answered the @talian opera, whi!h was fashionable up to the opening of The
Beggars Opera, with traditional *nglish pop2ular3 songs.
"oreover, /ay disposed of recitati&e altogether in favour of spo)en dialogue. @n this
way he instantly invented the musical.
Beggars Tri&ia
N 9!tress Cavinia Oenton was so popular as Polly that she had to be es!orted home
every night by a !onsiderable group of friends to pre&ent
'
her "eing kinappe
-
.
N /ays se4uel to The Beggars Opera was Poll, a more openly satiri!al but mu!h less
worthy play, as /ay )new. *ven here his lu!) held be!ause Polly was banned by the
Cord 1hamberlain 2under pressure from .alpole3 as seditious. 9s a result, a!!ording
to his own !al!ulations, /ay earned four times as mu!h from its publi!ation as he
would have done from its performan!e.
N The authorities responded to the su!!ess of The Beggars Opera and subse4uent
plays of politi!al satire with the 1&3& Ci!en!ing 9!t, whi!h re+imposed !ensorship.
N The Beggars Opera prompted a surge of imitative :ballad operas to be written over
the ne(t de!ade. The great #andel suddenly found that the *nglish had lost interest in
his operas. #e remained out in the !old after a series of failures until he finally gave
up operas in 1&41 and reinvented himself through his oratorio masterpie!e Messiah
21&423.
N The Beggars Opera was produ!ed every year in Condon from 1&2' until 1',, and it
is still regularly revived.
N Pne .ednesday night in 9pril 1&'2 a lady !alled "rs Oit5herbert went to a
performan!e of /ays play at the >rury Cane Theatre. .hen the man playing Cu!y
Co!)et appeared she started laughing. ;he !ontinued throughout the performan!e and
all the ne(t day. *arly on Oriday "rs Oit5herbert died from her laughing fit
$,
.
N @n 8retholt 8re!hts adaptation of /ays play, The Threepenn Opera 21-2'3
"a!#eath is !alled :"a!) the Qnife most of the time. Kersions of the song, :"a!)
the Qnife, from 8re!hts musi!al were re!orded by Couis 9rmstrong, 8ing 1rosby,
8ill #aley, *lla Oit5gerald, The >oors, Oran) ;inatra, ;ting, The Psy!hedeli! Ours,
%i!) 1ave and <obbie .illiams.
N There are two versions of The Beggars Opera available on >K>. Pne stars
Cauren!e Plivier 21-43, the other stars <oger >altrey
*,
and 8ob #os)ins 21-'33.
'
to pre&ent 0 stop
-
to kinap 0 abdu!t, rapt
$,
fit 2n.3 0 atta!)
$1
singer from The Who
Ma>or Themes
@9uality
/ayRs e(ploration of e4uality has an inherent irony to it, and understanding this irony is
essential to appre!iating the sharpness of his satire. 8oth e(pli!itly through dialogue and
impli!itly through the story, /ay !riti4ues the outright ine4uality between the ri!h and
poor.
#owever, what ma)es the wor) uni4ue is that he ma)es in!essant !omparisons between
the powerful ri!h and the desperate poor. #is basi! idea is that despite so!ial !lass, all
men are naturally self-intereste an corrupt. The te(t is rife with humorous
e4uivalen!ies drawn between statesmen and !riminals, lawyers and impea!hers,
highwaymen and !ourtiers, all to suggest that ine9uality is due as mu!h to how
hypocritical a man is willing to be, and not to his virtue.
Marriage
@n the world of The Beggars Opera, marriage bears no resemblan!e to the romanti!
notion of a holy union between two soulmates.
@nstead, /ay !ontinually mo!)s this notion, suggesting that love is more !losely aligned
with lust an self-interest than with selflessness.
The !losest /ay !omes to representing the ideali5ed !on!eption is in the profuse
professions Polly and Cu!y ma)e for "a!heath. #owever, both women are as fo!used
on physi!al intima!y as upon a trans!endent union. PollyRs marriage ultimately means
little to "a!heath, and most !hara!ters thin) of it is in terms of its finan!ial benefits,
with little thought of her emotions.
The girls notion of romanti! love, so mispla!ed upon an obvious !ad, renders the
romanti! ideal luicrous.
Oor the rest of the !hara!ters, a womans only use for marriage is finan!ial se!urity
+resting on the hotly+anti!ipated death of the male spouse, from whom she might inherit.
Freeom of se;ual e;pression is also put forward as a potential benefit of marriage, far
different again from the romanti! notion of monogamy. Pn!e married, a wifes
reputation is vou!hsafed by her husband. ;he may thus a!t with impunity, a!!ording to
her whim. 9ll of these representations were uni4ue in the time period, and helped to
ma)e /ays wor) so transgressive.
Frienship
There are myriad instan!es of friendship in the opera, although none of them !onform to
the ideal notion of a selfless affe!tion for another. @nstead, most !hara!ters are 4ui!) to
betray even the most seemingly profound of relationships. 9s a virtue, friendship is
espoused by?
Pea!hum for Co!)it 2and vi!e versa3A
the highwaymen for ea!h otherA
the harem of prostitutes for one otherA
"rs. Pea!hum for her favorite gang membersA and even
Cu!y for Polly.
@n ea!h !ase, though, the affe!tion proves at best a transitory )ind of fidelity, di!tated
utterly by self+interest. The highwaymen !ongratulate themselves on their valiant
allegian!e and dedi!ation to one another, but in the ne(t moment !onspire to :befriend
unsuspe!ting vi!tims about the town in order to rob them.
"rs. Pea!hum in4uires after the wellbeing of her favorite gang members, e(tolling their
virtues, but 4ui!)ly drops her !on!ern upon dis!overing that her husband has !hosen
them for the !urrent sessions impea!hment.
Oor Pea!hum and Co!)it, as for Cu!y and Polly, friendship is a self+!ons!iously
insin!ere tool. Pea!hum and Co!)it are business partners and self+pro!laimed friends,
yet ea!h man see)s to !heat the other. Cu!y offers a !on!iliatory glass of !ordial to Polly
in see)ing to forgive the past and forge a future friendship... and the !ordial is poisoned.
Aypocrisy
#ypo!risy is arguably /ays most signifi!ant target in the opera. 8oth impli!itly and
e(pli!itly, he mo!)s the way that statesmen rea!h great heights not through virtue, but
through their hypo!risy. @n fa!t, hypocrisy efines each an e&ery character, a!tion
and employment, suggesting it is an inherent, ines!apable human 4uality. /ays lyri!s
are the best pla!e to find witty arti!ulations of his times hypo!risy. .hen Pea!hum
e(presses the view that it might be reasonable to !onsider their line of wor) dishonest,
Co!)it responds with a display of indignation, singing?
!hen ou censure the age
Be cautious and sage"
#est the courtiers offended should be$
%f ou mention vice or bribe"
Tis so pat to all the tribe$
&ach cries'That (as levelld at me) 2p. 423
Co!)its sentiment en!apsulates the simple truth that there is falseness in every heart,
verified by the indignation of its denial.
!i&e for Toay
The !riminal mindset is greatly bolstered by the view that tomorrow may never !ome. @t
is not 6ust !riminals who use su!h reasoning to 6ustify morally ambiguous a!tions, of
!ourse.
@nstead, /ay suggests that we all en!ounter situations where we !ompromise ourselves
for the sa)e of momentary gratification. 21onsider the s!ene between Cu!y and Polly.3
The morally ban)rupt !hara!ters of The Beggars Opera, however, ta)e a sanguine view
of the matter? The noose is in e&eryone%s future.
Thus, let us live for today. .hile /ay does not e(pli!itly !omment on living ones life
through this philosophy, he does impli!itly suggest that it is a natural human
rationali5ation.
The !aw
There is no 4uestion that the profession re!eiving the worst review in The Beggars
Opera is law enfor!ement. The offi!ers of the 1ourt are bribable men who regularly
suppress eviden!e in !riminal prose!ution for the right pri!e. Euite e(pli!itly, >ustice is
for sale, and a malleable !on!ept at best.
.orst of all are the lawyers, repeatedly invo)ed throughout the play as the prime
e(ample of those who profit by the vi!e of others. Pne day they prote!t the unsavoryA
the ne(t, they prose!ute them. @t all depends on the pri!e. @f anything serves as an
immovable law in The Beggar*s Opera, is the natural law of human selfishness.
Self-Awareness
The !hara!ters in The Beggars Opera are prone to a philosophi!al defensiveness
against their own dishonesty. @t is as though they are aware of and armed against the
audien!es ga5e.
This defensiveness utili5es defle!tion? the !hara!ters often !onfess their own moral
failings or trea!hery, but then divert the atta!) to their so!ial betters. @f murder is wrong,
for e(ample, then loo) to the :gentlemen who have the money to employ assassins or
pay off the poli!e.
@f "a!heath has a gambling problem, blame the gentlemen at the same table, whose
edu!ations prepare them more properly for the games and whose po!)etboo)s may
more easily ta)e a hit.
/ay impli!itly suggests in his play that we would all do better to look closely at
oursel&es, rather than to define ourselves by others + sin!e others will naturally and
regularly give us mu!h o!!asion to defend our own vi!es and failures.