Beggar's Opera Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

pauperises Opearned run average - Essay Example flush toilet Gay paved the way for a in the raw field of force musical genre with the creation of Beggars opera that still exist today.The beggars opera is a three act ballad opera, a new form created by John Gay, an eighteenth century poet and dramatist. He has got the idea of the beggars opera from Jonathan Swift. Ballad Opera is a satire genre performed by actors, not by singers, in which dialogue alternates with song. The opera contains 69 songs. The opera begins with the introduction by a beggar. Hence the name Beggars opera.The later eighteenth century Britain was a place of corruption and turmoil .The authorities too turned a blind eye towards the corruptions. The era was termed as a century of transition and of many contradictions and complexities. There were rigid class distinction and the let out life was considered as a fit subject for comedy. According to M Dorothy George the dominating design of life in eighteenth ce ntury London is one of uncertainty and insecurity .She points out that Beggars Opera was an accurate picture of the manners of the time. The period of Charles 11 brought about changes to the government and also livens up the dead theaters. The writers who could enjoy the audience with satire and pathos made their chance with the circumstances. The depiction of the topical society with the criminal characters was supported whole heartedly and the play broke all the time record of theatre performance. Through the beggar characters and suitable plots, John gay had drawn the existing society of corrupted politics and degenerated, valueless life of the people, with ease and filled with satire. The typical eighteenth century English life was show with supreme care, even in the theme, characterization and dialogue.The writer skillfully pictured the chance of the values that prevailed in the current society. The England at the time of Sir Robert Walpole ( the first prime minister of