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
Lucy comes to tell Macheath that Lockit won’t budge about the execution. Macheath asks if he could get out by bribing Lockit and sings about how “the Perquisite” (bribery) helps men get paperwork done and charm women (Air 33). Lucy promises to try.
This exchange shows that Macheath’s real motive for seducing Lucy is to convince her to help him escape. In fact, he’s repeating the exact strategy he used on Polly in Act 1.
Themes
