The Canon Library
Cover of The Beggar’s Opera

Enlightenment · Drama, satire

The Beggar’s Opera

by John Gay. A ballad opera equates fashionable society and government with the underworld, mocking Italian opera and elite hypocrisy.

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Date
1728
Origin
England
Era
Enlightenment
Genre
Drama, satire
Canon tier
Expanded canon
Difficulty
Accessible
Length
Short
Collection
The Western Canon

Subjects and themes

Why it matters

A ballad opera equates fashionable society and government with the underworld, mocking Italian opera and elite hypocrisy.

This work is included on the basis of broader canon. Its cataloged influence level is 4 out of 5.

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