Beggar's Opera

I think this is a great opera! It is completely different than most opera's of this time. Many of the opera's are about issues not comic like John Gay's. There was a time when opera was somewhat converting going from classical opera to comedy type opera. I think this was close to that time. It seems that he is trying to make fun of classical opera, taking a dramatic and unusual type of story and putting it into opera with familair music for the singing parts. I am trying to find out what the difference between the crooks and the Peachum's mean! The crooks are witty and smart and the Peachum's are very illiterate and rude acting. Maybe he was trying to say that the higher class is actually uncivilized with their actions and ways of life. That the people who have to resort to stealing are smart in a way because they are doing what they have to in order to survive. OR he could be say that the higher class are theives. Since they do say "whawt we win, gentlemen, is our own by the law of arms and the right to conquest", don't many kings of that time go by that? In fact maybe he could be making fun of the war hungry rulers in this era. I know that there was a War of Spanish Succession from 1701-1713 and Spain lost a few territories to Britian in this war too. The enlightenment was also during this period, a new secular view on things first began in 1690, so this could be definatly making fun of the king in a way.