The Beggar's Opera

by John Gay, Bryan Loughrey (Editor), T.O. Treadwell (Editor)

‘Whore and rogue they call husband and wife:
All professions be-rogue one another'

The tale of Peachum, thief-taker and informer, conspiring to send the dashing and promiscuous highwayman Macheath to the gallows, became the theatrical sensation of the eighteenth century. In The Beggar’s Opera, John Gay turned conventions of Italian opera riotously upside-down, instead using traditional popular ballads and street tunes, while also indulging in political satire at the expense of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole. Gay’s highly original depiction of the thieves, informers, prostitutes and highwaymen thronging the slums and prisons of the corrupt London underworld proved brilliantly successful in exposing the dark side of a corrupt and jaded society.

Bryan Loughrey and T. O. Treadwell’s introduction examines the eighteenth-century background of musical theatre and opera, the changing cityscape of London and the corruption of the legal system. This edition also includes a note on the music in The Beggar’s Opera and suggestions for further reading.

Genres: Plays, Classics, Drama, 18th Century, Fiction, Theatre, School

122 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1728

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

John Gay was an English poet and dramatist. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera (1728), set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peachum, became household names.

Reviews

[David Sarkies · Rating 5 out of 5]

An 18th Century parody of the Italian Opera
23 December 2013

I want to give this play a high score simply because of it's context and content, and as it is one of the only satirical operas that has survived from the early 18th Century should also give this play, or more properly opera, some credit. Now, when we hear the word opera we usually thing of 'it's not over until the fat lady sings' (and then Bart Simpson going 'is she fat enough for you?') and you would actually be quite correct, because that is the type of opera that we would be thinking of in this context. In the early 18th century we see the rise in the popularity of the Italian Opera, which was mostly fat ladies singing, and dealt with heroes, villains, and mythical stories. They were basically the Hollywood blockbusters of the era.

So, along comes John Gay with an idea (which he apparently stole off of Jonathon Swift, of Gulliver's Travels fame) of making a satire of the ever popular opera. So instead of having heroes and mythical scenes, and stories dominated by the rich and powerful he instead delved into the dark and dirty streets of inner London to take us for a satirical journey through the criminal underworld. The problem is that on the page much of the satire does not actually come out, and further, since we are not familiar with the songs (though I am sure we will be familiar with the tunes) the parodying of the operatic style does not evidently come about (and while I have seen a couple of musicals – five to be exact – I have never seen an opera).

The other interesting thing that came out with this play, or at least the commentary, is how much London has changed since these days. Take for instance this place:



or this place:



which for those of us who know London know that these days is a very fashionable area, and also a very expensive place to set up residency. However, back in the days of the Beggar's Opera, this could not be farther from the truth. In fact the area around central London was a crime ridden cesspool that would result in you risking your life if you even considered wondering about after dark (or even not so much after dark). This, however, was almost three hundred years ago, so it is not surprising that London has cleaned up its act a lot, with the rise of the middle-class (as well as the establishment of John Wesley's church, whose mission was targeting the lower class residents of this area at the time).

Another thing that comes about, which I knew about anyway, but this play emphasised it so much more, is the popularity of Gin. Now, I'm a beer drinker, and as such I am generally not that well disposed to spirits, however back in those days spirits were exceedingly cheap. In fact, to some, Gin was the 18th century version of methamphetamine (though it was not illegal). The upper classes simply did not touch it (it was too cheap) and the lower classes would get excessively drunk drinking it. Also, like meth, it would be distilled in basements and apartments, and some of the product that came about was virtually poison.

The other aspect we hear about is the life of the criminal underworld. A bulk of the play takes place in Newgate Prison, and the version that I read had copious amounts of notes explaining a lot of the slang that was used. For instance, unlike today, it actually cost the criminal money to stay at Newgate, and in fact Newgate was one of the most expensive prisons in England in which to be locked up. Obviously nobody had listened to Thomas More when he wrote Utopia because the death penalty was still being imposed at the drop of a hat (though if you could quote a verse from Psalm 21 you could get off because it would suggest that you were literate). They also introduced a system of rewards for various criminals, however this led to the rise of a class known as the thief-catchers who would purposely go out and set people up so they could get the rewards (which would be paid once the thief was hung, in much the same way that rewards are offered by the police on a successful conviction).

It is interesting how there is still this belief that penal penalties (including the death penalty) deter crime, and all we have to do is to look back at this period of English history to know that this does not work. If theft brings about the death penalty, then technically nobody would steal, however a lot of people still stole, and even though it was clear that you would be hung if you were caught stealing, people would still keep on doing it (probably because they either believed that they were too smart to get caught, or they had nothing left to lose). Anyway, this is a whole field of criminology, which I don't really want to go into here because I have written enough already and want to get on and do something else now.

[Yair · Rating 5 out of 5]

By all accounts this play has aged horribly. I mean how many times and in how many variations can you read about women being called nearly every version of "woman with loose virtue?" But, despite this, the play works, very well, extremely well.

The reason for this, for me, is that the play never overindulges or comes off as exploitative in any way. It's a boisterous and funny look at a certain place in a certain time where (and when) the virtues of everyone were in question. And John Gay makes wonderful copy of this; as one of the greater overriding themes of the work, that corruption unifies the high and low of society, it's hilarious to see how similar human beings really are when it comes to doing wrong and falling far short of the ideals that religion and philosophy have codified. In addition to this Gay never seems to lose the controlling hand over his characters. They're all bastards, bitches, and rogues, but Gay never stops to obsess over who and what makes these people tick. The wonderful concomitant pacing truly allows you to go with the narrative and just enjoy the amorality.

So read this and enjoy it for what it is: a short but biting burlesque that elucidates beautifully how human weakness and professional corruption really knows no income.

[Raquel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Beggar's Opera took me longer than expected and in the end was an okay reading for me. It was fun at times, and I liked the socio-historical context and the criminal underworld of London depicted by John Gay, but the play didn't feel/become real on my mind. I will try to watch an adaptation to appreciate the opera to its fullest.

Required reading. I read the version from The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Vol. C: The Restoration & the Eighteenth Century

[Grace Mc · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by faaaar the best eighteenth century play I've read. It's Dickensian in its portrayal of the underbelly of English society; whores, criminals, highwaymen, corrupt lawyers.
It's comical and moving and poignant by turns, and I'm kind of in love with Macheath even though he is categorically THE WORST.
I want to write fanfiction about the gang and Macheath and Polly and Lucy- it just captures the imagination so easily.
It's also weirdly feminist in parts when it means to be comical.

Either way, a very enjoyable read and much recommended by me!

[Old-Barbarossa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably received like Trainspotting in the 18th cent. Tarts and highwaymen, cheap gin, betrayal, bigamy...and songs.
Social satire that still has an edge.
Shorter than I thought it would be.
Like to see it performed though.
Did Adam Ant read or see it? Dandy Highwayman indeed...

[Anisha Inkspill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beggar’s Opera is first performed in 1728 in England during the era of Enlightenment. This is set in the seedy world of crime and prostitution, it’s a comedy satire and ground-breaking for its time. According to the helpful essay and notes in this edition, it was popular and ran for 62 nights which it describes as a record. The essay also mentions this is the first musical and says how this would inspire others, naming Bertolt Brecht, Threepenny Opera, 1928, and, much later, Alan Ayckbourn with A Chorus of Disapproval (1994) and Stephen Jeffrey, A Convict’s Operal (2008/9). It also gives some social context and the history of how this play came about and how it was thought John Gay had the right kind of wit and style to tackle it.

I also liked how this kindle edition (The Beggar’s Opera ) did not let me forget I was reading a musical. Throughout this book, the publishers included extracts of the musical sheets with the lyrics, and also the appendixes include notes about the music and composers. The print of the text also makes it clear when words are sung if it doesn’t follow a music sheet, but I was not always sure if the rest was in poetical form or prose as the lines had no breakages like a poem but at times thought there was rhyming sequence going on.

Regardless, what came through the text was the speed of performance and energy by how the play is divided into many short scenes, several are only a couple of pages in length. These scenes make up three acts plus a prologue described here as an introduction. This opener reminded me of the opener in Goethe’s Faust part one but here it’s a two-hander between a Beggar and a Player; the Beggar acts more like a chorus in a Greek play indicating the comedy to come. They both exit after noticing the actors arrive and return in Act 3 Scene 16, the penultimate scene before the play ends. The Beggar sums up the play before he exits:

"Through the whole piece you may observe such a similitude of manners in high and low life, that it is difficult to determine whether, in the fashionable vices, the fine gentleman imitate the gentleman of the road, or the gentleman of the road, the fine gentleman. Had the play remained as I had first intended, it would have carried a most excellent moral. T’would have shown that the lower sort of people have their vices in a degree as well as the rich, and that they are punished for them."

Kindle edition, location 3296.

The subtext that drives the play is hidden by the chaos and love rivalry that is played out. I’m not sure if I would have connected as well to this play without the extra notes in this kindle edition, and as I look through the text to write this review, what stands out is the comedy driven by irony along with some sharp witty poetry (or lyrics), making me want to read it again.

[mims ₊ ⊹ · Rating 2 out of 5]

this kind of literature is just too droll for me (though i did enjoy the profanity, i guess) + it was for class, which made me not really care deeply about the content so much as i cared about connecting it to the class material

and my head has consistently hurt while reading this

[Livlaa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I hope to one day get a love confession like the one at the end of this play:

And (if I may without offence) for this time, I take Polly for [my wife]. And for life, you slut [...].

This play did age pretty horribly, considering the vast sexism and misogyny, however I will take the socio-cultural context into account. Because excluding the sexism, I really enjoyed this. It was an easy read and I appreciated the satire on opera.
To conclude my review I will leave you with the quote that a father said to his daughter, and made me laugh the most:

Thou wilt always be a vulgar slut, Lucy.

I mean, the "thou" makes it kind of sound like a compliment?

[Lex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Polly and Lucy... leave Macheath... date each other....

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mission 2026: Binge reviewing (and rereading on occasion) all previous Reads, I was too slothful to review, back when I read them.

Reading John Gay’s 'The Beggar's Opera' was a reminder that satire does not age the way moral instruction does. Moral instruction hardens, becomes quaint, or turns preachy.

Satire, when done with sufficient cruelty and wit, simply waits. Nearly three centuries after its first performance, Gay’s opera still feels disturbingly alive, not because its social conditions are identical to ours, but because its targets — hypocrisy, corruption, and the theatricality of respectability — remain stubbornly intact.

At first glance, 'The Beggar's Opera' seems like a playful inversion: thieves, prostitutes, and jailers populate the stage, while politicians and aristocrats are conspicuously absent. But this absence is the point.

Gay’s London underworld is a distorted mirror of polite society, one in which the logic of self-interest is simply stripped of euphemism. Crime and governance operate by the same rules; only the costumes differ.

The plot itself is deliberately flimsy. Macheath, a charming highwayman, marries Polly Peachum in secret, provoking the wrath of her parents, who profit from both thieves and informants. Betrayals multiply, loyalties shift, and justice becomes a matter of negotiation rather than principle. The opera famously refuses tragic resolution, opting instead for a self-conscious happy ending that undercuts its own artificiality.

What makes this work enduring is not narrative complexity but tonal control. Gay never allows sentimentality to settle. Romantic love is mocked as a transaction. Friendship dissolves under pressure.

Even the language of morality becomes suspect, deployed strategically rather than sincerely. The characters are not monsters; they are recognizably human, motivated by greed, fear, vanity, and survival.

The Peachums, in particular, are brilliantly drawn. As managers of criminal enterprise, they represent a form of bourgeois respectability that profits from disorder while pretending to oppose it. Their concern for morality is purely instrumental.

When thieves behave predictably, they are useful; when they become inconvenient, they are betrayed. The resemblance to modern bureaucratic cynicism is difficult to ignore.

Macheath himself is a fascinating figure. He embodies charisma without virtue, rebellion without ethics. The women who love him are not deluded innocents but participants in a system that rewards charm over loyalty.

Gay refuses to grant him tragic nobility. He is attractive, clever, and disposable. His near-execution is less a moral reckoning than a scheduling problem.

Music plays a crucial role in sharpening the satire. Gay’s use of familiar tunes — popular ballads and folk songs — turns the opera into a kind of cultural collage. Audiences recognize the melodies, even as the lyrics expose uncomfortable truths. This familiarity makes the critique harder to dismiss. The corruption being mocked is not exotic or distant; it is woven into everyday life.

Reading the libretto rather than seeing a performance requires some imaginative effort, but the wit survives translation across centuries. The dialogue crackles with irony. Characters speak in the language of honor, fidelity, and justice while violating those values with casual ease. The gap between word and deed is the engine of the satire.

What struck me most, was how thoroughly Gay anticipates modern critiques of systems rather than individuals. There are no reformable heroes in 'The Beggar's Opera'. Even the law is portrayed as another racket, with jailers, lawyers, and informants extracting value from misery. Punishment is not about justice; it is about revenue and control.

The opera’s framing device — a beggar introducing and commenting on the story — adds another layer of irony. Art itself becomes implicated. The beggar knows what audiences want: a happy ending, moral clarity, a restoration of order. And so he provides it, even as he exposes its artificiality. Gay seems to suggest that audiences are complicit in sustaining comforting illusions, preferring resolution over truth.

This self-awareness prevents the work from becoming merely cynical. Gay is not arguing that morality is meaningless. He is showing how easily moral language is corrupted when embedded in systems driven by profit and power. The satire bites because it recognizes human adaptability. People adjust their principles to fit their circumstances, then call the result virtue.

Some modern readers may find the opera’s treatment of women troubling. Female characters are often portrayed as manipulative, opportunistic, or fickle. But this, too, reflects the opera’s broader cynicism rather than targeted misogyny. In Gay’s world, everyone is compromised. Gender does not redeem or damn; it merely shapes tactics.

The opera’s historical impact adds another dimension to its reading. Its popularity in eighteenth-century London scandalized elites and delighted audiences precisely because it inverted the moral hierarchy of traditional opera. Heroes sang like criminals; criminals sang like heroes. This inversion was not revolutionary in a political sense, but it was corrosive in a cultural one.

In the context of my latest reading — which included works on power, nationalism, genocide, and political theory — 'The Beggar's Opera' functioned as a satirical footnote to more solemn analyses. Where theory diagnoses structures of domination, Gay mocks their everyday expressions. Where history records atrocity, satire reveals the petty calculations that make atrocity possible.

The opera does not offer redemption, but it offers clarity. It refuses the comfort of believing that corruption is an aberration. Instead, it suggests that corruption is normal, regularized, and often rewarded. That message, stripped of period costume, remains uncomfortably current.

'The Beggar's Opera' survives because it understands something enduring about human societies: that vice rarely presents itself as vice, and that systems built on exploitation are most stable when they feel amusing rather than monstrous. Laughter, in this work, is not release. It is recognition.

By the time the curtain falls — artificially, deliberately — the audience is left with a choice.

Enjoy the happy ending, or notice how cheaply it was bought.

Gay, of course, expects you to do both. That expectation is what keeps the opera alive.

An all-time classic.

[Isabella Gwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Justice for lucy she deserved better

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our story begins with a Mr. Peachum, a fence and thief-catcher, whose daughter Polly has has secretly married famous highwayman Macheath. So as a father who makes his living blackmailing thieves, he decides to kill his son-in-law so his daughter can inherit a fortune. One problem: Polly found out.

This wacky premise is accompanied by equally wacky songs, whores talking like ladies of court about taking money from men, comically bad hero Macheath who has promised marriage to at least 40 women and the cat fight that ensues from those promises.

I love how the ending was just like: 'Y'all can't handle a realistic ending!' so we got a happy one instead. Personally, I would have preferred that the cat fight turn into an alliance against Macheath and Peachum and a subsequent rebellion, but this works too.

[Emery Lee]

Although it may be odd to read a musical, this is fascinating to me! It was written for the stage and employed many popular tunes from the day (1728). Here's a sample from Page 29

"A fox may steal your Hens, Sir
A Whore your Helath and Pence, Sir
Your Daughter robs your chest, Sir
Your wife may Steal you Rest, Sir.
A Thief you Goods and Plate.
But this is all but picking
With Rest, Pence, Chest and Chicken;
It ever was decreed, Sir,
If Lawyer's Hend is fee'd , Sir
He steals you whole Estate.

Another from p. 38
If the Heart of a Man is deprest with Cares,
The Mist is dispell'd when a Woman appears;
Like the Notes of a Fiddle, she sweetly, sweetly
Raises the Spirits and charms our Ears,
Roses and Lilies her Cheeks disclose,
But her ripe Lips are more sweet than those
Press her,
Caressher,
With Blisses,
Her Kisses
Dissolve us in Pleasure and Soft Repose.

[Eddie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read The Beggar's Opera more as a passion project than anything else, having divulged a considerable amount of time to studying Pope and Swift's works. I would say that the idea of an English opera as social satire really shines through here. The music pieces are sublime and are choreographed to the tunes of famous Hanoverian composers like Handel and Purcell. If you are able to locate an audio rendition of the play - I found mine through YouTube - then you're in for a good time. I wouldn't recommend this play for the average reader of classic English literature. However, if you are into the time period, music, opera, and history of theater, then I'd definitely check it out. It will only take you 2 hours to read.

Favorite quote: "Thou wilt always be a vulgar slut, Lucy."

Music Link: https://youtu.be/Lq7g_NRKHU0?si=Ur0KP...

[Kaethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recall being told once upon a time that the poet John Gay was an ancestor, and I formed an intention to read something of his. And then there was a reference to The Beggar's Opera and the Three Penny Opera in something I was reading on the kindle, which made it dead easy to download a copy to satisfy my curiosity.

Meh. Satire doesn't hold up very well over time. Likely a production could be very winning, particularly if filmed by Tim Burton, but the script isn't much, nor terribly amusing. Still, good to fill in that bit of theater history, I suppose.

Personal copy

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

1728 Considered revolutionary at the time because it presented poverty and crime from the point of view of those who lived it. He used popular music of the day. It was set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly Peachum, became household names. It was wildly successful.
Found in "Eighteenth-Century Plays paperback pg.179

[Hannah Polley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book in that it is a low class opera but there wasn’t enough to keep me interested in the play. I know there is a lot of political satire in this book but I wasn’t invested enough to look that up so that I could actually get the references. I think it could be quite funny watching the play but reading it wasn’t enough for me.

[Noelia Alonso · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was actually not as bad and difficult as I thought it would be.

[autumn ☆ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Subversive and entertaining, and one of the few plays on my university course I would actually enjoy watching in a theatre.

[Antonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

“𝐿𝑈𝐶𝑌: 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑤ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑖𝑛 𝑏𝑜𝑡ℎ 𝑠𝑒𝑥𝑒𝑠, 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔. 𝐵𝑢𝑡 𝑚𝑦 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑐𝑡𝑠 𝑚𝑦 𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛.”

—John Gay, The Beggar’s Opera, Act III, Scene VIII, pg. 110

A short entertainment to cleanse my palate of reading made me cross my path with John Gay’s “The Beggar’s Opera” and as theatrical as it is, hypocrisy and satirical phases were focused and justified along with the repulse in their definition and use of ‘love.’ From the people as slaves of power and wealth to the rotten unspoken downtown of the high society of 18th-century London comes a story that weaves on political dirty works behind the noble facade of government, illicit affairs, uncontrolled lust, and a lens magnified on the lives of thieves, prostitutes, informers, and highwaymen corrupting the slims and prisons of London and its political system. As personally obnoxious as the end of it is, I am on the agreeing side that John Gay successfully put a slap on the political satires he lightly but deeply portrayed in the drama.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The fact that this play's characters were low class citizens, thieves and sex workers in an era where the bourgeoisie was the focus of the opera is pretty ballsy and it got pretty popular. It is funny because the play so ironically criticizes these upper class jerks and the upper class people paid to watch something that mocks them. It is a success.
Also the play had this message that all people are equal in the sense that evilness or bad deeds are not just lower class things and it mocks the hypocrisy of all people.
It is an important work from English Literature.

[Sandryne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to read this opera for a university class, it was interesting the way it’s format changed from a traditional play. Im glad it was my fireplace experience reading an opera, the story line was actually pretty interesting as well!

But men are jerks 😂

[Tar Buendía · Rating 4 out of 5]

No sé si la obra me habría gustado tanto sin el contexto, pero a nivel estudiantil estoy enamorada de este tema y de todas las curiosidades que rodean a esta historia.

¡¡El inicio de los musicales!!

[lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Consider, girl, you can't have the man and the money too. So make yourself as easy as you can, by getting all you can from him."

[Sarah Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

An easy to read play about the thin line between legality and criminality (i.e., lawyer versus thief).

[Hannah Uribe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Only read it because it’s a requirement for school, but I did find the social cirques of 1700s England interesting enough.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've acquired many new terms and insults from this. Thank you, John Gay for giving me "hussy."

[bruna · Rating 3 out of 5]

why macheath lowkey ran through

[bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was like fine i guess. could have been better.

[Steven "Steve" · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and entertaining play from the early 18th century. A parody of the then current love of Italian Opera, combining song and speech, but with considerably more earthy characters.