The Beggar’s Opera
Introduction + Context
Plot Summary
Detailed Summary & Analysis
Introduction Act 1, Scene 1 Act 1, Scene 2 Act 1, Scene 3 Act 1, Scene 4 Act 1, Scene 5 Act 1, Scene 6 Act 1, Scene 7 Act 1, Scene 8 Act 1, Scene 9 Act 1, Scene 10 Act 1, Scene 11 Act 1, Scene 12 Act 1, Scene 13 Act 2, Scene 1 Act 2, Scene 2 Act 2, Scene 3 Act 2, Scene 4 Act 2, Scene 5 Act 2, Scene 6 Act 2, Scene 7 Act 2, Scene 8 Act 2, Scene 9 Act 2, Scene 10 Act 2, Scene 11 Act 2, Scene 12 Act 2, Scene 13 Act 2, Scene 14 Act 2, Scene 15 Act 3, Scene 1 Act 3, Scene 2 Act 3, Scene 3 Act 3, Scene 4 Act 3, Scene 5 Act 3, Scene 6 Act 3, Scene 7 Act 3, Scene 8 Act 3, Scene 9 Act 3, Scene 10 Act 3, Scene 11 Act 3, Scene 12  Act 3, Scene 13 Act 3, Scene 14 Act 3, Scene 15 Act 3, Scene 16 Act 3, Scene 17
Themes
All Themes Moral Corruption and Hypocrisy Gender, Love, and Marriage Class, Capitalism, and Inequality Opera, High Art, and Performance
Quotes
Characters
All Characters Polly Peachum Peachum Lucy Lockit Lockit Macheath Mrs. Peachum The Beggar The Player Mrs. Coaxer Filch Robin of Bagshot (“Bob Booty”) Mrs. Diana Trapes
Terms
All Terms Cordial Newgate Prison Transportation
Symbols
All Symbols Account Book
Literary Devices
All Literary Devices Allusions Foil Frame Story Genre Hyperbole Idioms Imagery Irony Metaphors Mood Motifs Paradox Pathos Satire Setting Similes Situational Irony Style Tone
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The Beggar’s Opera

by

John Gay

The Beggar’s Opera: Act 3, Scene 9 Summary & Analysis

Moral Corruption and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Gender, Love, and Marriage Theme Icon
Class, Capitalism, and Inequality Theme Icon
Opera, High Art, and Performance Theme Icon
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 Theme Icon
Moral Corruption and Hypocrisy
Gender, Love, and Marriage Theme Icon
Gender, Love, and Marriage
Class, Capitalism, and Inequality Theme Icon
Class, Capitalism, and Inequality
Opera, High Art, and Performance Theme Icon
Opera, High Art, and Performance
Summary
Analysis
In private, Polly remarks that Lucy is clearly pressuring her to drink because she wants to “pump some Secrets out of me.” So she won’t drink at all.
Polly correctly notices that something is wrong with Lucy’s cordial, but just like she has done with Macheath throughout the play, she naïvely underestimates exactly how evil Lucy can be.
Themes
Moral Corruption and Hypocrisy Theme Icon
Literary Devices
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