Ballad Opera
Satire: mash up
“Rather than writing about characters from ancient
foreign mythologies, as was common, he populated his
work with contemporary beggars, thieves, and
prostitutes, and set it in the poorest districts of London
and in Newgate prison” (BABL online text, 1-2).
He also used “popular tunes of the time for his songs,
substituting lyrics that contributed to the story while
satirizing the original lyrics, which would have been
well known to the audience” (2).
Satire: innuendo
0 Political satire
0 A new kind of politics developing over the last 10 years
0 Robert Walpole:a long-standing prime minister who
held the keys to political power through patronage
(and corruption).
0 ”British statesman (in power 1721–42), generally
regarded as the first British prime minister. He
deliberately cultivated a frank, hearty manner, but his
political subtlety has scarcely been equaled” (Encyclopedia
Britannica).
So how does The Beggar’s Opera
make its case?
0 What is it’s case?
0 Politicians are no better than a gang of thieves.
0 Walpole is just another version of Jonathan Wild.
A World of equivalences:
Act I, scene 1, Peachum’s house
0 Through all the employments of life
0 Each neighbor abuses his brother;
0 Whore and rogue they call husband and wife:
0 All professions be-rogue one another.
0 The priest calls the lawyer a cheat,
0 The lawyer be-knaves the divine,
0 And the statesman, because he’s so great,
0 Thinks his trade as honest as mine.
Names of characters, again
0 1. Peachum: Peach ’em, i.e., inform on him—
implying an informer
0 2. Macheath: Mac Son of; heath Typical setting for
highway robbery.
0 3. Twitcher: Pickpocket.
0 4. Bagshot: Name of heath notorious for
highwaymen.
0 5. Nimming: Stealing.
0 6. Padington i.e., Paddington: notorious district,
housing the gallows at Tyburn (the day of execution
was referred to as Paddington Fair day).
Names, cont.
0 7. Mint: Formerly a sanctuary for debtors, here a
refuge for various outlaws.
0 8. Budge: Clothes thief.
0 9. Trapes: Slattern.
0 10. Mrs.: “Mistress,” used for both married and
unmarried women.
0 11. women of the town: Prostitutes.
0 12. Diver: Pickpocket.
0 13. Slammekin: Slut.