The Begger's Opera seems to set up an analogy between those with political power and criminals. Indeed, it sees the criminal as the representative figure of contemporary society. Write an essay that considers this universalisation of the criminal in The Begger's Opera.
The common consensus amongst critics of The Beggar's Opera is that it does indeed present an analogy between Britain's political elite on the one hand and members of London's criminal underworld on the other (See Kidson, 1922, p62; Noble, 1975, p7 & ). For example, as early as the second scene in the play we view the 'respectable' criminal Peachum (who receives and sells stolen goods) busily scrutinizing his account book in order to determine which of his criminal acquaintances he should 'peach' for the reward and which deserve to continue their life of crime because they remain profitable. Peachum's ability to use and abuse the legal system for personal gain would no doubt have reminded contemporary audiences of Sir Robert Walpole. The latter, as Abrams (2000, p2048) points out, was often himself accused of using and abusing the political system - via the use of bribes and/or by dishing out political appointments in return for loyalty - in order to build up a powerful and profitable personal empire.
The underlying motive behind this type of analogy is of course to bring to the attention of the audience that the morals of the rich and famous during the Eighteenth Century were no better than those of the common criminal (Richards & Quick, 1971, pp23-25; Donaldson, 1970, p165). In fact, as Lewis (1976, p51) and Noble (1975 p7) suggest, the proposition seems to be that the behavior of the ruling elite could well be considered worse because people of wealth and influence supposedly set the moral standard for the rest of society to follow and are thus expected to behave better. Consequently, if influential people such as the Prime Minister are dishonestly manipulating the political system and cheating their peers for profit little wonder that everyone else is following suit and society is falling into moral decay.
