Gay, John

Gay, John, 1685–1732, English playwright and poet, b. Barnstaple, Devon. Educated at the local grammar school, he was apprenticed to a silk mercer for a brief time before commencing his literary career in London. The first of his writings to have any real merit were the mock pastoral, The Shepherd's Week (1714), and Trivia (1716), an amusing description of London life. He is remembered chiefly today for his ballad opera, The Beggar's Opera (1728), a lighthearted story of highwaymen and thieves, which satirizes both the corruption of contemporary genteel society and the then current fashion for Italian opera. Its sequel, Polly, written the following year, was suppressed by Sir Robert Walpole since it (like The Beggar's Opera) ridiculed his government. Gay was also the author of two books of verse called Fables (1727, 1738), which were very popular in his generation.

Bibliography

See his poetical works edited by G. C. Faber (1926, repr. 1969); study by P. A. Spacks (1965).

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Gay, John

John Gay, oil painting by William Aikman; in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh.

(credit: Courtesy of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh)

(born , June 30, 1685, Barnstaple, Devon, Eng.—died Dec. 4, 1732, London) British poet and dramatist. From an ancient but impoverished Devonshire family, Gay was apprenticed to a silk mercer in London but was released early. He soon cofounded the journal The British Apollo. His poetry collections included Rural Sports (1713) and Trivia (1716). He is best known for the ballad opera The Beggar's Opera (1728), which ran for 62 performances (the longest run to that date). The play, with music by John C. Pepusch (1667–1752), was a cynical tale of thieves and highwaymen intended to mirror the moral degradation of society; its success made it a landmark in music-theatre history. It was adapted by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill as The Threepenny Opera (1928). Gay was buried in Westminster Abbey.