The Beggar's Opera / Polly
John Gay
Rated: 3.25 of 5 stars
3.25
· 4 ratings · 256 pages · Published: 1728
With The Beggar's Opera, John Gay created one of the most enduringly popular works in English theatre history, and invented a new dramatic form, the ballad opera. Gay's daring mixture of caustic political satire, well-loved popular tunes, and a story of crime and betrayal set in the urban underworld of prostitutes and thieves was an overnight sensation. And its sequel, Polly, banned in Gay's lifetime, boasted a cross-dressing heroine and a cast of female adventurers, pirates, Indian princes, rebel slaves, and rapacious landowners--a culture in which all human relationships are reduced to commercial transactions.
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- college/university 3
- drama 3
- satire 2
- comedy 2
- romantic love 2
- funny 2
- crime 1
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