John Gay and The Beggar's Opera

John Gay, poet and dramatist, was born in Devon to parents, who he tragically lost at a young age. Raised by his uncle, Gay was educated at Barnstable Grammar School. After finishing his studies, he apprenticed for a silk merchant in London. Although he disliked his time in the city, Gay obtained much of the subject matter for his future writing there. Before beginning his future as an author however, Gay worked as a steward for the household of the Duchess of Monmouth and then later as secretary for Lord Clarendon, Tory envoy to Hanover. In addition, the poet/dramatist, made a living as a journalist in London, where he met Alexander Pope and Jonathon Swift, both of whom would give him later inspiration.

In 1728, four years prior to his death, Gay published his most famous piece, The Beggar's Opera, which was performed more than any other play during the 18th century. Although the play does incorporate more than sixty short songs, some attributed to the famous composer Handel, the title is more of an irony, due to the piece's tendency to "poke fun" at the classic opera style. The piece, which utilizes prose dialogue as well as standard musical pieces and whose lyrics were written by Gay, satirizes both society as well as politics. Gay's newfound friend Swift can actually be credited for the idea behind The Beggar's Opera; through his explanation that the lives of imprisoned people, where Gay had worked for a brief period, could be just as moral as those lived by the upper-class. Gay, who was dissatisfied with London as a whole and who was focused on the "underbelly" of the city, mirrored the lives of thieves, prostitutes and bums with those of the aristocracy of the period.

The mock heroic play, which was titled due to the beggar's introduction to the piece, tells the story of a love triangle, composed of the protagonist MacHeath, an amorous lady's man, Polly, the fence's daughter and his wife and Lucy, the offspring of the town jailer, who is also impregnated with MacHeath's child.

While The Beggar's Opera does not follow the standard structure of an opera, it does display one expected convention, that of the happy ending. Thanks to this characteristic, MacHeath is saved from death by hanging through the final intervention of the beggar. Although the sequel to The Beggar's Opera, Polly, was never allowed a performance and was banned from production by Robert Walpole, who had been the brunt of much of the "opera's" satire, Gay did receive many royalties from its success, allowing him four more years of drinking and gambling.

Gay, who passed away in the winter of 1732, has an extensive list of published works, including Wht D'Ye Call It (1715), Trivia: Or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London (1716), Three Hours After Marriage (1717, published with Alexander Pope and John Arbuthnot, as well as many others. The author's resting place can be found at the Westminster Abbey in London.