John Gay

Extract

It is much to be hoped that the revival of The Beggar's Opera will do neglected justice to the reputation of John Gay, and that the numerous patrons of the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, will study the text of the opera. The songs and the dialogue are excellent testimony to his gifts as a lyrist and a wit, and invite the discriminating reader to make closer acquaintance with his essays on “Dress” and “Reproof and Flattery” (which appeared in The Guardian, Nos. ii and 149, 1712-13), and with his ballads and verse in other pieces beside the popular Fables. It is odd that, though Gay has found friendly critics and devoted editors in John Underhill and Mr. Austin Dobson, neither speaks of his reputation without much apology nor gives any convincing reasons for the original success of The Beggar's Opera. For example, John Underhill attributes the success of the opera to “two causes ; the opera was the first specimen of a new species of composition, and it was well stored with satire. The satire, moreover, was not merely general : it was personal and particular. No one could fail to see that Robin of Bagshot—alias Whiff Bob, alias Carbuncle, alias Bob Booty—was designed to represent Sir Robert Walpole’s unrefined manners, convivial habits, and alleged robbery of the public. Macheath was provided in the play with both a wife and a mistress, to indicate to the public that Lady Walpole had a rival in Miss Skerrett.”