The New Opera

The Beggar´s Opera is a satirical ballad. It was first performed in 1728, and written by John Gay. At first, he wanted the play to be performed in the popular playhouse Drury Lane. However, the owners were not willing, and, at the end it was performed in the Lincoln´s Inn Fields Theatre, thanks to John Rich, who was interested in the play. This play became so popular, that after the first few months John Gay had become very rich, and as a joke, it is said that John Rich, the manager of the theatre, became gay.

In a way, this play had such an impact in the society of the time because it was a total change from what had been preformed until then. To start with, it was the Italian opera that was in fashion then. Therefore, the language used in these was Italian. This fact affected the understanding of what was being said, and it began to be very uncomfortable for the audience, that could barely understand the actors. Moreover, the way in which the actors talked was as if they were reciting, that is, the actors would talk by singing throughout the whole play. This could be a little too heavy and slow for the audience, because it would make the action of the play go slower. The characters in these plays belonged to the high Italian class, to noble families. Therefore, it was difficult for the audience to identify themselves with them, because they did not belong to the high English classes or noble families.  The Beggar´s Opera contrasted enormously with this. Mainly, because it was meant to make fun of the Italian opera.

To begin with, in The Beggar´s Opera, the language barrier does not exist anymore, because it is represented in English. Not only that, the language used is very vulgar and typical of people that belong to the low class. Moreover, this language matched with the characters of the play, because now, instead of noble families being the main characters, it was more normal people that carry the action of the story. Normal people, and people that represent the corruption of the London streets at this time, criminals and prostitutes.  Another difference was the mixture between normal spoken discourse and little recitatives, or airs that was present in this play, and that contrasted with the continuous singing of the Italian operas. This made it much easier too, to keep up with the plot of the story. These airs were popular songs of the time that everyone knew, so this would also involucrate the audience and made them feel closer to what was happening in the play.

This play was not only a criticism against the Italian opera, but it was a way to make the Londoners realize the big problem that they had in their city. To start with, the amount of criminals that would threat their wellbeing, and the prostitutes, which were always surrounded by money problems, or others of the sort. It was also a clear criticism against Robert Walpole´s corruption policy. He was the first Prime Minister, and was criticized by many in his time. He was even compared to a very famous criminal called John Wild, like it can be seen in this play. Moreover, this man was also very important because he was the one who persuaded the Parliament to pass the Licensing Act in the year 1737. As a result, London´s theatres had to make sure that the plays that were going to be presented were going to be appropriate from his point of view. The writers that disapproved of this were among others Swift, Pope, and Fielding.