The first and greatest of all ballad-operas, is John Gay?s The Beggar?s Opera, written in 1728, wherein, he portrays an English society, which is drenched in the idea of self- interest and their growing love for materialism. Here in the play, with the presentation of pictures of immoralities and treacheries of highwaymen, Gay is actually mocking at the society in which the value system doesn?t work and the morality, if any, is guarded by the woman alone, a society where everyone enjoys liberties, but no one wants to have responsibilities, a society where power-play of the ?masculine? eventually victimizes the ?feminine?. The Beggar?s Opera received attention and approbation for suggesting contradictions between the morality and materialism. Ballad-opera is a satirical form of literature. The play, thus, satirizes legality on the one hand and criminality on the other. It depicts how the characters are loaded with their self-interest and lack being humane.
M.A. (English), Central University of South Bihar, Gaya
