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Act 2, Scene 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Beggar’s Opera, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Moral Corruption and Hypocrisy
Gender, Love, and Marriage
Class, Capitalism, and Inequality
Opera, High Art, and Performance
Summary
Analysis
Macheath reaches the tavern and greets the other men. Matt of the Mint invites him to rob travelers on the Western Road out of London. Macheath asks if the other men have ever questioned his honor, courage, or morals; Matt says no, then asks if Macheath suspects them of something. Macheath explains that the problem is Peachum. Matt says that he’ll kill Peachum if necessary, but Macheath says that the thieves can’t make a living without Peachum, so should keep working with him. Macheath just needs a week to fix the situation. In the meantime, he’ll take a break from thievery, and the others should just tell Peachum that he left the Gang. (But they can keep meeting in secret.) Matt agrees and sings about robbing carriages and getting rich (Air 20). The thieves load their guns and run offstage, singing.
Rather than truly going into hiding, Macheath goes straight back to his old life of crime and revelry. The other thieves clearly respect him, but audiences will notice that he doesn’t really seem to deserve their praise: he isn’t actually honorable, moral, or courageous at all. What he does seem to have is confidence: he’s sure that he can change Peachum’s mind, so that he doesn’t lose his best customer. Indeed, just like Peachum, he puts profit above all else. The parallels between the two men don’t end there: just as Peachum plans to kill Macheath, Macheath considers killing Peachum (but decides that it would be more profitable not to). Ironically enough, Matt turns out to be right: by the end of the play, it becomes clear that Macheath’s best course of action would have been to kill Peachum. (In fact, this would let Macheath inherit Peachum’s whole estate, too.)
Themes
