The Threepenny Opera

The Threepenny Opera Summary | Act 1, Prologue and Scene 1 Summary

The Threepenny Opera, a play with music, tells the story of the street criminal Macheath and his involvement with Polly, the virtuous daughter of a fellow street criminal, Peachum. Betrayed by his own sexual desires and by the women with whom he indulges them, Macheath is sentenced to be executed, but he is saved from the hangman's noose by a sudden twist of fate. The play's musical interludes serve various purposes. They comment on the action, illuminate character and make socially conscious points relating to the play's theme of the struggle of the poor for justice and freedom.

Prologue - Against a background of lower-class street life in mid-18th century London, filled with beggars, thieves and prostitutes, a ballad singer sings about Macheath. The singer tells the audience how Macheath wears white kid gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints at the scenes of his crimes. Several people have disappeared after encounters with him, and his nickname is Mack the Knife. At the end of the song, a man emerges from the crowd of street people and quickly exits. Jenny, the prostitute who later betrays Macheath to the police, identifies the man to us as Mack the Knife.

Scene 1 - A narrator introduces Peachum, who explains that he's in the business of "arousing human sympathy," saying that human beings have the habit of quickly becoming immune to the sufferings of others. He offers the example of a beggar who gets a good sum of money from a rich man one day, less the next and none the day after that. He also refers to the Bible's teachings about mercy, saying they wear thin after a while.

A young man comes into the shop, and conversation reveals the nature of Peachum's business. He controls which beggar begs on which corner, charges money for the privilege of working for him, takes a percentage of what each beggar earns in a day's work and controls which method of begging each beggar uses. He lists the various methods for the young man, including "The Pitiful Blind Man" and "The Young Man Who Has Seen Better Days." During conversation with Mrs. Peachum, whom he berates for not doing her job of preparing the beggars' clothes properly, Peachum decides the young man is to work in Outfit D (which is never defined) and tells him to get changed.

While the young man is gone, the Peachums discuss the man who keeps coming by to visit their daughter Polly, referring to him as the Captain. Conversation reveals that both Polly and Mrs. Peachum hope he'll propose marriage, but Peachum says he'll never let Polly marry, adding that business at the shop would become non-existent if she were no longer around for the men to look at. He then asks what the Captain's real name is, but Mrs. Peachum says nobody ever refers to him by name. She also mentions that the Captain always wears white kid gloves, leading Peachum to ask whether the Captain has other habits of the man with white gloves. They're both referring to Macheath.

The young man comes back in, having changed, and he asks Peachum for advice on how to make more money. Peachum tells him to come back later in the evening, and the young man goes out. After he's gone, Peachum tells Mrs. Peachum that the Captain is Mack the Knife, and he runs upstairs to check on Polly. Mrs. Peachum utters a brief prayer that sounds like a grace said before dinner. Peachum comes back down, saying that Polly's bed hasn't been slept in. Mrs. Peachum says that means she's gone to dinner with a wool merchant. Peachum says he hopes that's who she is with.

Lights change, and the setting changes. The Peachums step forward and sing. Peachum's lyrics refer to the difficulties of retaining control over children, while Mrs. Peachum's song cynically refers to romance, moonlight and the smooth words of lovers.