While I thought The Beggar's Opera was a good play, I can honestly say that it was not my favorite story we have read in British Literature, though I am very thankful it was the last. This semester has been a busy one, that's for sure.
For some reason, I could really see this play happening today. A man marries a woman but gets his mistress pregnant, and instead of the women hating Macheath for what happened, they mostly blamed each other. That is one thing that confuses me. Why not blame the man? It was him, after all, that got them into the whole mess. But no, women always blame the other woman.
One thing I found particularly interesting was the fact that Peachum was planning to kill Macheath to get some money, even though he knew his daughter was in love with the man. I don't know about anyone else' father's, but I know for sure that my father would not kill the man I loved just because he knew it would hurt me, even if the guy was a complete sleaze like Macheath. But I guess it was different in that time.
What I do know for sure is that I'm thankful the semester is nearly over. I'll have Christmas break to relax and rejuvenate before I have to pick back up on reading literature next semester.
I like your point about women blaming other women for their problems rather than the man standing right in front of them causing the problem. It seems that when "love" is in the midst of other's minds they tend to lose theirs. I think its a common misconception that individuals place themselves in, blindly. While these women knew subconsciously who was to blame they chose to see past it and pretty much ignore it in hopes that it would disappear..it may be a sad way to look at life, but sometimes we look for the easy way out.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Sometimes as women, or especially me, if somthing is my fault I try to blame the guy..poor fellow! But this is human nature someitmes when we have big mess ups we try to point fingers at someone else to not have to admit our mistake. I liked this story though it was deffinately different from the traditional readings. I figured that british literature was going to be more like Shakesphear,...hard language and sometimes dragging..but this story had an original storyline :)
ReplyDeleteI also wish to chime in in agreement with your point about women blaming each other. I think that it is one of the many things about women that confuse us men. However, I would add another dimension to your statement and say that it is partially the man's fault that the women are after each other. If the man simply allows this to happen, and does not step up and accept responsibility for what he has done, then he is even more a part of the problem. Often today, men refuse to stand up and be men. I think it is something that our culture is losing. Men of character are becoming an extinct species.
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