The Beggar's Opera

The Beggar's Opera is a satirical opera that follows the misadventures of two main characters: Polly, Maceath. The beginning of the opera shows the secret marriage between Polly and Maceath. Polly's parents are angry at their daughter marriage and ultimately plot to strip Maceath of his wealth in response to this seeming insult. As the plot of opera progresses, the audience is made aware of the true intentions of Maceath as a man of dubious ideals who is merely marrying Polly in order to further his own individual wealth. As Polly is about to sacrifice all she has for her new husband, the audience is then introduced to the character of Lucy, the jailer's daughter. She too is in love with Maceath as he woos her in a similar fashion as Polly. Once Polly reveals the intentions of her jealous and cruel parents, Maceath professes his love to Lucy in order to spare any retaliation from the jailer. This idea, however, does not assist Maceath in his quest for vindication. Maceath is jailed and it is then revealed to the audience that there are an additional 4 wives with children that lay marital claim to Maceath. Before he is executed for his mischevious ways, Maceath is spared and all rejoice although this is not made entirely clear to the audience why.

The central theme in John Gay's work, The Beggar's Opera, is to satirize the Italian operas which promote the central themes of love and marriage. Gay methodically shows the fleeting misguidance of love while he simultaneously blurs the lines between villian and hero. To this extent, the beggar (who in many ways can be considered the voice of Gay himself) plainly mentions that this opera was not meant to end joyously. To the contrary, he mentions that a moral lesson is to be learned that cannot exist should Maceath live. For the sake of runnig further puns on contemporary opera and the central themes thereof, Maceath is released.