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Act 2, Scene 12
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Beggar’s Opera, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Moral Corruption and Hypocrisy
Gender, Love, and Marriage
Class, Capitalism, and Inequality
Opera, High Art, and Performance
Summary
Analysis
Polly arrives at Newgate in search of her “dear Husband” Macheath. She proclaims her love for him, declares that his imprisonment is devastating her, and promises to never leave his side. Meanwhile, Macheath laments his bad luck and Lucy Lockit calls him a villain. Polly sings a tune comparing Macheath to a caged bird (Air 34).
Macheath mutters that he “must disown” Polly, then insults her for being “distracted.” Lucy calls Macheath a lying villain. Polly asks why he is so rude to her—“tell me,” she asks, “am I not thy Wife?” Then, she realizes what has happened. Lucy and Polly start insulting Macheath together, and they both say they wish he were already dead. Lucy directly asks Macheath if he has really taken two wives. He rudely cuts them off, then sings that he wishes just one of them were around, and not both (Air 35). Polly complains about Macheath using her, and Lucy says she wishes she were the one to turn Macheath in. Together, Polly and Lucy sing that they are “bubbled” (cheated) and “troubled,” and their “Distresses are doubled” (Air 36).
Macheath opportunistically sides with Lucy over Polly because he knows that only Lucy has the power to get him out of prison. Meanwhile, Polly finally realizes that her father’s warnings about Macheath were right, and she turns against Macheath for the first time. Thus, the dynamics of the opera’s conflict shift once again. Of course, Gay uses these constantly shifting loyalties to make the play as dramatic and exciting as possible (and to show how corruption and disloyalty leads to chaos). The characters are constantly at one another’s throats, but it’s impossible to predict what this tension will lead to and who will ultimately fight whom.
Themes
Macheath accuses Polly of making everything up in an attempt to turn Lucy against him and eventually take over his estate. Lucy turns against Polly and calls her “barbarous,” but Polly sings that Lucy is trying to manipulate her and steal her husband. Macheath accuses Polly of “carrying the Joke a little too far,” and Lucy threatens to have her father kick Polly out of the Newgate prison. But Polly insists that she will stay with Macheath. Lucy and Polly share a song: Lucy calls Polly “Madam Flirt” and accuses her of “flinging Dirt”; Polly calls Lucy “saucy Jade” and accuses her of being drunk (Air 38).
Within minutes, Macheath manipulates Lucy and Polly into believing him instead of one another. They forget their complaints against him and turn against each other instead. While this underlines how clever and manipulative he is, troublingly, Gay also seems to suggest that Macheath’s manipulation works because Lucy and Polly are fickle, gullible, and naïve. Eighteenth-century audiences may have understood this as praise for young women’s purity and innocence, but contemporary ones will likely see it as an insult to their intelligence.
Themes
