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Also known as “Mackie the Knife,” Macheath is the slickest gangster in London—a notorious thief, murderer, and rapist who gets away with every crime he commits due to his symbiotic, transactional relationship with the sheriff of London, Tiger Brown. Macheath has a reputation for violence and thievery, yet all the denizens of London know that he’s slippery as a shark. In this way, Macheath is held up throughout the play as an emblem of someone who has, rather cynically, found a way not just to survive but to thrive in a corrupt, greedy, capitalistic society by becoming a greedy, corrupt capitalist himself. Macheath commands a somewhat ragtag gang of thugs who are deeply loyal to him, if occasionally bumbling or incompetent—while his men Money Matthew, Hook-finger Jacob, Robert the Saw, and Wally the Weeper steal antiques, launder money, and cover up their group’s crimes, Macheath is free to romance (and occasionally, the text implies, violently rape) women and focus solely on himself. In spite of his heinous crimes, Brecht makes Macheath the physical and emotional center of the play’s action—and allows Macheath to be redeemed at the last minute in spite of his two-timing ways toward Polly and Lucy, his unrepentant bribery of both Tiger Brown and Constable Smith, and his incorrigibly violent, unattached, and disaffected nature. In the end, Macheath is made a nobleman and rewarded with a castle and a pension by none other than the newly-crowned Queen herself in a moment that serves as Brecht’s statement on the fundamental injustices of a society which rewards those who stoop as low as they can to survive. Macheath’s comical lustiness, narcissism, and bravado make him a compelling character—and yet Brecht is careful to remind audiences that if they root for Macheath’s survival, they are rooting for the survival not just of a corrupt individual but a corrupt system.
Macheath Quotes in The Threepenny Opera
The The Threepenny Opera quotes below are all either spoken by Macheath or refer to Macheath. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1, Scene 2 Quotes
POLLY (crying): All those poor people, just for a few bits of furniture!
MACHEATH: And what furniture! Junk! You’re right to be angry. A rosewood harpsichord — and a Renaissance sofa. That’s unforgivable. And where’s a table?
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MACHEATH: We were boyhood friends, and though the great tides of life have swept us far apart, although our professional interests are quite different — some might even say diametrically opposed — our friendship has survived it all. […] Seldom have I, the simple hold-up man […] undertaken the smallest job without giving my friend Brown a share of the proceeds (a considerable share, Brown) as a token and a proof of my unswerving loyalty to him. And seldom has the all-powerful Sheriff […] organized a raid without previously giving a little tip-off to me, the friend of his youth. […] It’s all a matter of give and take.
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Act 2, Scene 1 Quotes
POLLY: Mac, last night I had a dream. I was looking out of the window and I heard laughter in the street, and when I looked up I saw our moon, and the moon was quite thin, like a penny that’s all worn away. Don’t forget me, Mac, in the strange cities.
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MRS. PEACHUM: Let me tell you this, Jenny: if all London were after him, Macheath is not the man to give up his old habits.
Now here’s a man who fights old Satan’s battle:
The butcher, he! All other men, mere cattle!
He is a shark with all the world to swim in!
What gets him down? What gets ‘em all down? Women.
He may not want to, but he’ll acquiesce
For such is sexual submissiveness.
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Act 2, Scene 3 Quotes
BROWN: I hope my men don’t catch him! Dear God, I hope he’s beyond Highgate Moor thinking of his old friend Jacky! But he’s thoughtless, like all men. If they should bring him in now, and he were to look at me with those faithful friendly eyes, I couldn’t stand it. Thank God, there’s a moon: once he’s out in the country, he’ll find his way all right.
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MACHEATH: In spring I ask: could there be something to it?
Could not Macheath be great and solitary?
But then the year works round to January
And I reply: My boy, you’ll live to rue it.
Poverty makes you sad as well as wise
And bravery mingles danger with the fame.
Poor, lonely, wise and brave — in heaven’s name!
Good-bye to greatness! I return the prize
With this my repartee of repartees:
None but the well-to-do can take their ease.
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MACHEATH: What does a man live by? By resolutely
Ill-treating, beating, cheating, eating some
other bloke!
A man can only live by absolutely
Forgetting he’s a man like other folk!
CHORUS OFF:
So, gentlemen, do not be taken in:
Men live exclusively by mortal sin.
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Act 3, Scene 3 Quotes
POLLY: Mackie, are you very nervous? Who was your father? There’s so much you haven’t told me. I don’t understand it at all: you were really always quite healthy.
MACHEATH: Polly, can’t you help me out?
POLLY: Of course.
MACHEATH: With money, I mean.
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MACHEATH: The outlaws, bandits, burglars, gunmen
All Christian souls that love a brawl
Abortionists and pimps and fun-men
I cry them mercy one and all.
Except the coppers — sons of bitches —
For every evening, every morning
Those lice came creeping from their niches
And frequently without a warning.
Police! My epidermis itches!
But for today I’ll let that fall
Pretend I love the sons of bitches
And cry them mercy one and all.
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ALL: Combat injustice but in moderation:
Such things will freeze to death if left alone.
Remember: this whole vale of tribulation
Is black as pitch and cold as any stone.
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Macheath Character Timeline in The Threepenny Opera
The timeline below shows where the character Macheath appears in The Threepenny Opera. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Prologue
...or murder ballad, about a recent spate of killings. Though everyone knows a gangster called Macheath, or “Mackie the Knife,” is responsible, the man is so slick and accomplished that he...
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Act 1, Scene 1
...the door, Peachum tells his wife that the man she’s describing is none other than Macheath.
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Act 1, Scene 2
In an empty stable in the heart of Soho, Macheath and Polly Peachum are looking for a place to celebrate their marriage. Polly, in a...
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...and thugs carrying stolen furniture, carpets, and all the tools to transform the space arrive. Macheath hates filling the room with “junk,” but he knows it’s what Polly wants. As they...
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Macheath’s henchmen begin making an improvised table, apologizing profusely to Polly for their oversight. When Wally...
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...served on stolen plates from the Savoy Hotel. As the men begin stuffing their faces, Macheath urges someone to sing a song—he says he’d hoped his men would know enough manners...
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Macheath and Polly welcome the reverend warmly. Macheath asks his men to sing a song for...
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...“All of them!” she’ll reply, before boarding her ship and sailing off with her crew. Macheath applauds his wife’s artful song but tells Polly it’s wasted on the “swine” she’s sung...
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One of Macheath’s men bursts into the room and announces that the cops have come to bust up...
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Macheath urges Brown to sit down and enjoy himself. He then begins reminiscing about their old...
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When the song is over, Macheath continues telling his men about the close friendship between himself and Tiger Brown. The two...
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...be off—he can’t allow anything to go wrong with the upcoming coronation. Before he goes, Macheath asks if Scotland Yard has any records that could be used against him—for his new...
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After Brown goes, Money Matthew tells his “Captain” that he has a surprise for him. Macheath’s gang heads to the back of the room, where a large carpet is hanging. They...
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Act 1, Scene 3
...Establishment for Beggars and loudly, starkly announces to her parents that she is married to Macheath. Mrs. Peachum laments that after all the money she and her husband have spent on...
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...response to her mother’s tirade, Polly begins to sing a song about her marriage to Macheath. Polly reveals through song that she’s always known she’d turn down a “rich” or “nice”...
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Polly begs her father to accept her marriage to Macheath. Though the living he makes is non-traditional, she says, he’s able to support her—he’s a...
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...and she leaves the room. Peachum and Mrs. Peachum begin hatching a plan to get Macheath hanged. Mrs. Peachum says that Macheath is probably at a brothel with his whores—she plans...
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Peachum, however, declares there is evidence against Macheath—for he has “enticed […] Polly Peachum from her parental home under the pretext of marriage.”...
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Act 2, Scene 1
It is a Thursday afternoon, and Macheath is waiting in the stable, reclining on his and Polly’s stolen bed. Polly enters in...
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Polly, however, produces a list of charges against Macheath she wrote down during Peachum and Brown’s meeting—it includes two murders, thirty burglaries, twenty robberies,...
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Macheath tells Polly that if he’s to flee, she must take over the “business.” Polly begs...
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Macheath gives Polly instructions as to how to launder money from the “business” to clear suspicion....
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Macheath laments missing out on the coronation—it is sure to be a “gold mine” for crime...
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As Macheath prepares to leave, Polly grows increasingly anxious. She is afraid that he will forget her—or...
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...toward the front of the stage. Mrs. Peachum urges Jenny to report any sighting of Macheath to the police in the next few days or weeks to the police at once....
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Act 2, Scene 2
...in their shifts sit around busying themselves with ironing, preening, and card games. One of Macheath’s thugs, Hook-finger Jacob, is there; he laments that he doesn’t think Macheath will ever come...
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...she sees darkness and “a little bit of love,” plus a line which indicates that Macheath will be betrayed by a woman whose name begins with J. Macheath suggests the woman’s...
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When Macheath finishes flirting, he notices Jenny’s absence and asks where she’s gone. He begins reminiscing about...
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Jenny begins singing—her recollection of things is very different. She recalls Macheath beating her when she didn’t earn enough and selling her possessions for extra cash. Still,...
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Lost in song, Macheath barely notices when Constable Smith enters the brothel and taps him on the shoulder. As...
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Act 2, Scene 3
...speaks to himself anxiously, saying that he hopes his men haven’t been able to catch Macheath—he prays that Macheath is already far away beyond Highgate Moor. Looking out the window, Brown...
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As Macheath spots Brown, Brown instantly begins apologizing, insisting that he did “everything he could” to stop...
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As Constable Smith enters with a pair of heavy handcuffs, Macheath reaches into his pocket and pulls out a checkbook. He asks if he can buy...
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As Macheath settles into his cell, he announces his intention to have a “fine time” while he...
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Lucy, Tiger Brown’s daughter, enters the Old Bailey. She approaches Macheath’s cell, calling him a “miserable wretch” and asking how he can even bear to look...
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Polly berates Macheath for visiting the brothel and allowing the prostituetes there to turn him in. Lucy calls...
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Lucy and Polly debase, deride, and insult one another as they each sing about how Macheath loves them best. Both profess that with Macheath, they have “a bond that lasts forever.”...
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Mrs. Peachum arrives. Calling Polly a “filthy trollop,” she pulls her daughter away from Macheath’s cell and accuses her of embarrassing the family with her dramatic behavior. Lucy teases Polly...
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After Polly is gone, Macheath begs Lucy to believe that there is “no truth” in what Polly said about being...
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Constable Smith enters, goes into Macheath’s cell, and demands he return the stick. A fight ensues, and Macheath escapes. Tiger Brown...
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Peachum asks Brown if he thinks the police will be able to catch Macheath and bring him back. Brown shrugs. Peachum says that what is about to happen to...
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Macheath and Ginny Jenny step out in front of the curtain and sing the “Second Threepenny-Finale.”...
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Act 3, Scene 1
Ginny Jenny and several prostitutes enter, demanding their fee for helping in Macheath’s arrest. Mrs. Peachum refuses to give the women their fees, stating that Macheath has vanished...
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Peachum urges Filch to go to the police station and tell them that Macheath is with Suky Tawdry. To placate the prostitutes, he offers to pay them, and orders...
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Brown, knowing that he is being blackmailed into arresting Macheath, asks what he can do when the man is nowhere to be found. Ginny Jenny...
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...From King Solomon to Cleopatra to Caesar—all the way up to Bertolt Brecht himself and Macheath, Brecht’s invention—Jenny repeats the refrain “a man is better off without” as she tells the...
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Act 3, Scene 2
...the Old Bailey. Constable Smith knocks at the door and tells her that “Mrs. Polly Macheath” would like to see her. Lucy tells Smith to send Polly in. Polly enters the...
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Polly begins explaining how her love affair with Macheath started—she admits that she first saw him only ten days ago, and that they were...
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...Lucy returns with coffee and pastry. As the women eat, Polly notices a picture of Macheath in the corner of the room—she asks when he brought it. Lucy insists he didn’t...
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Lucy reveals that she’s been faking her pregnancy to ensnare Macheath. Polly applauds her trickery. Lucy tells Polly that when Macheath is found, Polly should feel...
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Act 3, Scene 3
...the next morning, as the city bells ring outside, Constable Smith and his men bring Macheath into a cell to await hanging. Smith flings Macheath in the cell, telling him to...
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As Smith shuts Macheath in his cell, Tiger Brown enters. Smith asks if Brown would like to see Macheath,...
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Money Matthew and Hook-finger Jacob enter the hall. Smith stops them from approaching Macheath’s cell. Matthew physically threatens Smith. Smith, intimidated, lets the men pass. Macheath asks the men...
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Constable Smith comes in to ask Macheath what he’d like for his last breakfast. Macheath asks for asparagus, and says he wants...
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...and tells Polly that she is sixteenth in the queue of people waiting to see Macheath and must wait her turn. Polly insists that as Macheath’s wife, she deserves more time...
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Brown tries to talk to Macheath, but Macheath is cold toward his friend as he eats his final meal. Macheath asks...
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...after a “life-time together,” he and his friend are at last being forced to part. Macheath is upset, too—after three years of fighting alongside Brown in India and five years of...
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Smith enters and whispers to Macheath that there’s still time—if he’s got the money. Macheath says that his thugs haven’t returned...
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As the bells strike six, Smith eagerly orders Macheath out of the cell. As Macheath emerges, he addresses the gathered group. He tells them...
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Macheath then steps forward to sing a song—“The Ballad In Which Macheath Begs Pardon of All.”...
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The whole group proceeds to the gallows. As Macheath stands upon the platform, Peachum speaks. He declares that while Macheath’s fate proves that nothing...
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