1728 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 ID: 553696
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Slide1
The Beggar’s Opera
1728
Ballad OperaSlide2
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).Slide3
Satire: innuendo
Political satire
A new kind of politics developing over the last 10 years
Robert
Walpole:
a
long-standing prime minister who held the keys to political power through
patronage
(and corruption).
”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
).Slide4
So how does The Beggar’s Opera make its case?
What is it’s case?
Politicians are no better than a gang of thieves.
Walpole is just another version of Jonathan Wild.Slide5
A World of equivalences:
Act I, scene 1, Peachum’s house
Through all the employments of life
Each neighbor abuses his brother;
Whore
and rogue they call husband and wife:
All professions be-rogue one another.
The
priest calls the lawyer a cheat,
The lawyer be-knaves the divine,
And
the statesman, because he’s so great,
Thinks his trade as honest as mine
.Slide6
Names of characters, again
1
.
Peachum
:
Peach ’
em
, i.e., inform on him—implying an
informer
2.
Macheath
:
Mac Son of; heath Typical setting for
highway robbery
.
3.
Twitcher
:
Pickpocket.
4.
Bagshot
:
Name of heath notorious for highwaymen.
5.
Nimming
: Stealing
.
6.
Padington
i.e
.,
Paddington: notorious
district, housing the gallows at
Tyburn
(the day of execution was referred to as
Paddington
Fair day)
.Slide7
Names, cont.
7.
Mint
:
Formerly a sanctuary for debtors, here a refuge for
various outlaws.
8.
Budge
:
Clothes thief.
9.
Trapes
:
Slattern
.
10.
Mrs
.: “Mistress,”
used for both married and unmarried
women.
11.
women
of the
town
: Prostitutes
.
12.
Diver
:
Pickpocket.
13.
Slammekin
:
Slut.