Captain Macheath
Encyclopedia
Captain Macheath is a fictional character who appears both in John Gay's
The Beggar's Opera
, its sequel Polly and roughly 200 years later in Bertolt Brecht
's ;;The Threepenny Opera
.
. He then appeared as a pirate in Gay's sequel.
He was likely inspired in part by Jack Sheppard
who, like Macheath, escaped from prison and enjoyed the affections of a prostitute, and despised violence. His nemesis Peachum who, in John Gay's original work keeps an account book of unproductive thieves (something that Macheath himself does in Bertolt Brecht's work). Both characters can be understood as satires of Robert Wapole.
John Gay
John Gay was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera , set to music by Johann Christoph Pepusch...
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today...
, its sequel Polly and roughly 200 years later in Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's ;;The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera
The Threepenny Opera is a musical by German dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, in collaboration with translator Elisabeth Hauptmann and set designer Caspar Neher. It was adapted from an 18th-century English ballad opera, John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, and offers a Marxist critique...
.
Origins
Macheath made his first appearance in John Gay's The Beggar's Opera as a chivalrous highwaymanHighwayman
A highwayman was a thief and brigand who preyed on travellers. This type of outlaw, usually, travelled and robbed by horse, as compared to a footpad who traveled and robbed on foot. Mounted robbers were widely considered to be socially superior to footpads...
. He then appeared as a pirate in Gay's sequel.
He was likely inspired in part by Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard
Jack Sheppard was a notorious English robber, burglar and thief of early 18th-century London. Born into a poor family, he was apprenticed as a carpenter but took to theft and burglary in 1723, with little more than a year of his training to complete...
who, like Macheath, escaped from prison and enjoyed the affections of a prostitute, and despised violence. His nemesis Peachum who, in John Gay's original work keeps an account book of unproductive thieves (something that Macheath himself does in Bertolt Brecht's work). Both characters can be understood as satires of Robert Wapole.