The Threepenny Opera

Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1928

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Summary

Background

Act Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Act I

Act II

Act III

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Prologue-Act IChapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue Summary

Content Warning: This section of the guide contains discussion of graphic violence and death.

A fair in Soho buzzes with beggars, thieves, and sex workers as a ballad singer introduces the infamous Macheath, also called Mac the Knife. The ballad recounts Macheath’s crimes, from murders and thefts to arson and exploitation. Though his actions leave a trail of death and despair, Macheath remains elusive, outwardly charming, and unbothered by his fame. As Jonathan Peachum (the head of a network of beggars), his wife, and daughter cross the stage, the presence of Macheath casts a shadow over all as he detaches himself from the crowd and walks away.

Act I, Scene 1 Summary

Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, who controls and profits from a network of beggars, is in his shop. Peachum begins his day with a cynical hymn on human selfishness and sin, which expresses his own views of the world and his work. Addressing the audience, he explains that his business depends on stirring pity but that human indifference to repeated suffering makes his work increasingly challenging. He laments the need for constant innovation since even biblical phrases meant to evoke generosity lose their impact over time.

Charles Filch, a young man seeking help, enters the shop. He describes his hard life and recounts being beaten for begging in an unauthorized area. Peachum berates him for operating without a license and explains his monopoly over begging in London, which requires all beggars to work under his control. Filch negotiates and eventually pays a fee to obtain a license and beggar costume. He also agrees to hand over a percentage of his earnings. Peachum showcases wax dummies representing archetypes of misery, such as the cheerful paraplegic and the pitiful blind man, made to make the begging more efficient. Filch reluctantly accepts his assigned role, though he resists parting with his sentimental shoes.

As Filch prepares to leave, Peachum shifts his focus to his daughter, Polly. He questions Mrs. Peachum about Polly’s whereabouts, learning that she has been spending time with a charismatic man known only as “the Captain.” Peachum grows suspicious and warns of the dangers of marriage, which he fears would jeopardize their business by introducing an outsider. When Mrs. Peachum describes the Captain as a man with white gloves, an ivory-handled cane, and a scar, Peachum realizes he is dealing with the infamous bandit Macheath. Alarmed, he resolves to investigate Polly’s activities.

The scene concludes with Peachum and Mrs. Peachum lamenting Polly’s recklessness in a song, emphasizing the dangers of youthful naivety and the pursuit of fleeting pleasures. Peachum resolves to confront the situation.

Act I, Scene 2 Summary

Macheath and Polly Peachum are about to marry in a dilapidated stable in Soho. Matthew, one of Macheath’s gang members, inspects the venue for safety, declaring it suitable. Polly arrives in her wedding dress, shocked to find herself in such a setting. Macheath reassures her that it will be transformed, and soon, his gang brings in stolen furniture and decorations, converting the stable into a lavish, albeit mismatched, space.

The gang members congratulate the couple while reporting their criminal activities. Macheath chastises them for unnecessary violence during their heists, expressing his preference for professionalism over bloodshed. Polly, distressed by the stolen furniture that the gang is bringing in, begins to cry. Macheath humorously directs the gang to saw the legs off a harpsichord to create makeshift seating. As they saw the harpsichord’s legs, the gang sings a tune called “Bill Lawgen and Mary Syer” about a less fortunate couple.

As the gang members don evening attire and offer wedding gifts, Polly struggles to reconcile her romantic vision with the reality of Macheath’s criminal life. Macheath’s temper flares when a gang member addresses Polly too familiarly, but the tension dissipates as the gifts, including a grandfather clock, are unveiled. The gang begins setting the table for the wedding feast, showcasing stolen dishes from the Savoy Hotel and delicacies like plovers’ eggs from Selfridge’s.

Mac, displeased with the lack of entertainment, requests a song. After a failed attempt by the gang to sing “Bill Lawgen and Mary Syer” again, Polly performs the song “Pirate Jenny,” which is about a demoralized servant who dreams of revenge. Although the crowd loves the song, Macheath tells Polly that she should not repeat the act, as he does not like her performing.

The wedding is interrupted by the arrival of the reverend, Kimball, who officiates. Mac’s old army friend Sheriff Tiger Brown arrives next. Their reunion confirms their corrupt alliance: Brown has erased Macheath’s criminal records in exchange for loyalty. They reminisce about their time in the army and sing “The Cannon Song,” a satirical military tune. The scene ends with Macheath and Polly sharing a tender moment as they reflect on their love, despite the chaos surrounding them.

Act I, Scene 3 Summary

Polly returns to Peachum’s shop to inform her parents of her marriage to Macheath. Mrs. Peachum reacts with outrage, criticizing Polly for squandering the investment made in her upbringing. Polly confirms the marriage through the song “In a Little Song Polly Gives Her Parents to Understand That She Has Married the Bandit Macheath,” which recounts how she resisted other suitors but fell for Macheath despite his lack of money or respectability.

Peachum, angered by Polly’s union with a criminal, laments the potential ruin this marriage could bring upon their business. Mrs. Peachum faints dramatically, prompting Polly to fetch Cordial Médoc (a kind of liqueur) to revive her. While Mrs. Peachum recovers, Peachum directs his frustrations at Polly’s decision, calling it reckless and immoral.

During the commotion, a group of beggars enters the shop to complain about faulty props and low earnings. One beggar protests a poorly made stump, while others argue over equipment quality and unrealistic expectations. Peachum berates them for their lack of artistry in evoking pity and insists on the importance of emotional manipulation. He eventually dismisses them, frustrated with their incompetence.

As the argument with the beggars concludes, Polly defends her marriage, emphasizing Macheath’s ability to support her through his success as a burglar and planner. Peachum responds by urging her to seek a divorce, but Polly refuses. Mrs. Peachum criticizes Polly’s romantic notions, insisting that Macheath will inevitably abandon her and bringing up his multiple relationships as proof.

Peachum then devises a plan to have Macheath arrested and hanged, calculating that this would secure financial compensation while ridding them of him. Mrs. Peachum volunteers to bribe Macheath’s former lovers into betraying him, but Polly counters by revealing Macheath’s close friendship with Sheriff Tiger Brown, which, she argues, makes betrayal unlikely. The scene closes with the trio singing “First Threepenny Finale: Concerning the Insecurity of the Human Condition.” They reflect on humanity’s selfishness and the bleakness of the world.

Prologue-Act I Analysis

The first act of Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera begins its critique of capitalist society by presenting a world suffocated by corruption, survival, and moral decadence. The Prologue and Act I introduce a morally ambiguous world where societal structures blur the boundaries between legality and criminality. These early scenes reflect the chaos and disillusionment of the post-World War I period, during which Germany was marked by economic inequality, political polarization, and widespread disenchantment.

Brecht’s characters embody the contradictions of this era, with figures like Peachum and Macheath serving as archetypes for the pervasive exploitation and manipulation inherent in capitalist systems and establishing the theme of Corruption as a Universal Constant. Brecht was influenced by his readings of philosopher, social theorist, and communist revolutionary Karl Marx, whose works criticize the capitalist system and argue that it oppresses the working classes. In The Threepenny Opera, Peachum, who keeps a monopoly over begging, mirrors the exploitative tendencies of the economic elites in the Weimar Republic, while Macheath (Mac the Knife), a criminal who thrives on charm and violence, symbolizes the charismatic opportunists who often capitalized on societal instability.

Brecht often uses symbolism to signal the contrasting dimensions of characters, their actions, and their environment. For example, Macheath’s white gloves, a recurring symbol, reflect his hypocrisy, portraying him as genteel even as the ballad in the Prologue recounts his brutality. This dual role as a charming rogue and a ruthless predator exemplifies how society often overlooks violence when it is cloaked in charisma. Similarly, Peachum’s wax figures, designed to evoke pity, underline the performative and transactional nature of morality within this world. Likewise, his use of biblical language to evoke pity, which he exploits for profit, represents the disingenuous nature of moral rhetoric in a capitalist framework. Though their varying goals with respect to Polly pit them against one another from a narrative perspective, Peachum and Mac the Knife thus resemble each other in significant ways. Operating within a framework that rewards manipulation, they both present corruption as a systemic necessity for survival.

The idea of survival drives much of the action in the Prologue and Act I, where characters are forced to navigate an exploitative system that prioritizes self-preservation at any price. Peachum’s cynical hymn at the start of Act I exemplifies this reality, as he laments the selfishness of people while embodying it himself through his exploitative practices. The interaction between Peachum and Filch in Act I demonstrates the pragmatism of survival. Filch’s desperation to secure a begging license, even at the cost of his dignity and earnings, represents the dehumanizing effects of systemic oppression, felt sharply by the urban poor of 1920s Germany. Brecht uses irony to emphasize the absurdity of a situation where the most destitute must pay for the right to beg while bourgeois figures like Peachum bureaucratize and trivialize their suffering even as they capitalize upon it.

This bleak outlook on survival is further reinforced through Polly’s performance of “Pirate Jenny” in Act I, Scene 2, where she imagines revenge against oppressors through a destitute character, Jenny, who nevertheless is able to defend herself, albeit illegally. The ballad provides a glimpse into the suppressed rage and yearning for justice that underlie the characters’ daily struggles—a sentiment resonant with the revolutionary fervor and class struggles of Brecht’s time that hints at The Fragile Nature of Power.

A third major theme, The Futility of Human Aspirations, is closely related to Brecht’s interrogation of societal ethics and his exposure of its inherent contradictions and hypocrisies. Brecht’s portrayal of Polly and Macheath’s wedding in a stable filled with stolen goods exemplifies his critique of idealized societal constructs. The scene parodies traditional notions of marriage and respectability and challenges the audience to question the moral underpinnings of institutions that appear sacred but operate within a corrupt system. Polly’s attempt to reconcile her romantic ideals with Macheath’s criminal reality encapsulates this tension and suggests that for Brecht, much of what passes for nobility merely ensures people’s complacency by masking a sordid truth.

Brecht amplifies these ideas through his signature use of Verfremdungseffekt (alienation or distancing effect), which prevents the audience from becoming emotionally absorbed in the narrative and encourages critical reflection. Songs and musical interludes, which function as meta-commentaries that disrupt the plot, play a central role in achieving Verfremdungseffekt. The Prologue’s ballad about Macheath sets the tone for the opera’s critique, while songs like “Pirate Jenny” and “The Cannon Song” illuminate characters’ inner conflicts and societal dynamics. By breaking the narrative flow, these songs compel the audience to consider the broader implications of the characters’ actions.

Character development in The Threepenny Opera aligns with Brecht’s goal of encouraging critical engagement rather than emotional investment. Rather than presenting psychologically complex individuals, Brecht portrays his characters as archetypes representing broader societal forces. Peachum embodies capitalist exploitation and manipulation of others for profit under the guise of benevolence. Macheath represents the charisma of power, using charm to mask his brutality and maintain control. Polly reflects the tension between personal desires and systemic constraints, as her romanticized view of love clashes with the harsh realities of her marriage to Macheath. By stripping his characters of psychological depth, Brecht redirects the audience’s attention to the social structures that shape their actions.