English Literature / Unit 11 ENL 1025 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Gay and The Beggar's Opera
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The idea
John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, of seventeen twenty-eight, is a ballad opera, a satirical play using popular tunes. Set among thieves, with the highwayman Macheath, it mocked the fashion for Italian opera and the Whig statesman Robert Walpole.
In practice
Thieves, popular songs, political mockery.
Where people slip
Low characters satirize high society.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
Builds on
Unlocks
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