Polly Peachum: A Satirical Filter

Paper Summary:

Analysis of English values in the Restoration, focusing on Polly Peachum as a foil character that Gay uses as a satirical element to show the hypocrisy of London society. It explains how Gay juxtaposes the aristocracy against the thieving, working class and asks the audience "Who is who?" The character helps question whether there is really such a difference between the gentry and the criminals warehoused in London jails.

From the Paper:

"The aim of satire is to attack or expose human vice or hypocrisy by means of irony, sarcasm, and acerbic wit. In the Restoration play The Beggar's Opera, author John Gay satirizes early 18th century England by turning societal convention on its ear, challenging the upper stratus of government and the aristocracy, and making ridiculous the Italian opera. One of Gay's most ironic and satirical elements in the Opera is his characterization of the play's personas. The theatregoers of Gay's era were accustomed to characters who behave according to an established set of conventions that supposedly mirrored the London society in which they live. In the typical Restoration plays such as Man of Mode and The Way of the World, the upper-class male protagonists are fashionable, witty, respectable, honorable, and of good reputation. The young female leading roles are almost stock characters who are pure, chaste, virtuous, filially obedient, and have the propensity to be excellent wives. But in order to expose the hypocritical double standard that existed in London society, John Gay creates a play of inverted values. The value systems of criminals and gentle people are almost indistinguishable. The rake is replaced by a highwayman, match making parents are replaced by villainous thieves, and the honorable maiden is swapped for a would-be ingenue. This maiden, Polly Peachum is the antithesis of stock Restoration female protagonists such Millamont, Harriet, and even Margery who possess honor and respected positions in society."

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