The motif of “self-love” appears at various points in the text. This motif is integral to the moral satire of The Beggar’s Opera, in which most of the citizens of London pursue their own self-interest at the expense of others. In a small passage of verse that mocks the alleged vanities of women, Macheath sings:
The first time at the Looking-glass
The Mother sets her Daughter,
The Image strikes the smiling Lass
With Self-love ever after.
Each time she looks, she, fonder grown,
Thinks ev’ry Charm grows stronger.
But alas, vain Maid, all Eyes but your own
Can see you are not younger.
Macheath accuses women of “Self-love” or narcissism. When young women first see their own reflection in a mirror, he claims, they are struck with "self-love ever after." He further alleges that women grow increasingly fond of their own reflection, as if their “ev’ry Charm” has grown “stronger” with time, even though others only see them as aging women. Here, Macheath introduces the idea of self-love in order to criticize Lucy and reassure Polly of his love.
Later, in conversation with Lucy, Polly states that the “coquets”—or flirts—“of both sexes” are the true “Self-lovers,” referring to Macheath in particular:
The Coquets of both Sexes are Self-lovers, and that is a Love no other whatever can dispossess. I fear, my dear Lucy, our Husband is one of those.
Macheath, Lucy states, only loves himself, and the result is that “no other” love can dislodge his own self-regard. She implies, then, that Macheath cannot truly love either of them, nor any other woman, because he is consumed with his own self-interest. By saying this, she revises and subverts Macheath's previous association of "self-love" with women.
The motif of “self-love” appears at various points in the text. This motif is integral to the moral satire of The Beggar’s Opera, in which most of the citizens of London pursue their own self-interest at the expense of others. In a small passage of verse that mocks the alleged vanities of women, Macheath sings:
The first time at the Looking-glass
The Mother sets her Daughter,
The Image strikes the smiling Lass
With Self-love ever after.
Each time she looks, she, fonder grown,
Thinks ev’ry Charm grows stronger.
But alas, vain Maid, all Eyes but your own
Can see you are not younger.
Macheath accuses women of “Self-love” or narcissism. When young women first see their own reflection in a mirror, he claims, they are struck with "self-love ever after." He further alleges that women grow increasingly fond of their own reflection, as if their “ev’ry Charm” has grown “stronger” with time, even though others only see them as aging women. Here, Macheath introduces the idea of self-love in order to criticize Lucy and reassure Polly of his love.
Later, in conversation with Lucy, Polly states that the “coquets”—or flirts—“of both sexes” are the true “Self-lovers,” referring to Macheath in particular:
The Coquets of both Sexes are Self-lovers, and that is a Love no other whatever can dispossess. I fear, my dear Lucy, our Husband is one of those.
Macheath, Lucy states, only loves himself, and the result is that “no other” love can dislodge his own self-regard. She implies, then, that Macheath cannot truly love either of them, nor any other woman, because he is consumed with his own self-interest. By saying this, she revises and subverts Macheath's previous association of "self-love" with women.
