Hi guys!
This time I am going to deal with the social impact that The Beggar's Opera had in the society of the eighteenth century.
The main form of wealth in the eighteenth century was owning land. Political power and influence was in the hands of rich landowners. At the top of the society were the nobility. Below them, there was a class of nearly rich landowners called the gentry. At the beginning of the century, there was another class of landowners called yeomen between the rich and the poor. During the century, this class became less numerous. Other middle class people such as merchants and professional men became richer and more numerous, especially in the towns. Below them, there was a great mass of the population, craftsmen and labourers. At that time, half of the population lived as subsistence or bare survival level.
This time I am going to deal with the social impact that The Beggar's Opera had in the society of the eighteenth century.
The main form of wealth in the eighteenth century was owning land. Political power and influence was in the hands of rich landowners. At the top of the society were the nobility. Below them, there was a class of nearly rich landowners called the gentry. At the beginning of the century, there was another class of landowners called yeomen between the rich and the poor. During the century, this class became less numerous. Other middle class people such as merchants and professional men became richer and more numerous, especially in the towns. Below them, there was a great mass of the population, craftsmen and labourers. At that time, half of the population lived as subsistence or bare survival level.
During this century towns grew. Most towns still had populations of less than 10,000. At the end of the century the population of the towns grew, such as in London, that grew to nearly one million
Opera was essential in the development of one of the drama's obsessions: the nature of class limits and the consequences of their disintegration. In his opera, Gay turns stereotypical treatments of economic and gender-based structures upside-down. The middle-class background and insignificant social rank shows his empathy and values the common folk. In The Beggar's Opera, he pays homage to his origins.
John Gay did comparisons between the vices of his characters with some political figures, and even Prime Minister Robert Walpole. Gay' s message is really a Christian one: “humanity is depraved, rich and poor alike”
The play is one part of a larger movement of Literature characterised by “social, political satire and literary burlesque”. This movement is born out and driven by a deep concern over the state of the nation and the corruption of its government. Gay considered that the vice around the government is the common disease of all classes. The modern concept of distinct socio-economic and gender-based classes was slow to develop. The idea that one' s identity was showed in one' s place in society was, slowly coming to the public' s attention. The rise of the bourgeoisie coincided with an increase in public concern over the threat that the new rich are rich because they have inherited everything. Gay is in a way prejudiced for or against the bourgeoisie, although he chooses to avoid focusing on wealth. Gay sets a precedent in defining the demarcations between social classes, he establishes distinctions only in order to demolish them. He shows how society is just as unified as it is made up of diverse individual parts. The characters are united by their desire for financial gratification. Gay established a link between corrupted low classes and the equal aristocratic elite.
Gay spares no class, he is against the capitalism and the selfishness, and that what inspired him to write The Beggar's Opera.
