The Political Peter Pan of the Literary World on the Stage with His Beggars: Educational Analysis

Abstract

Little is known about the ‘Peter Pan’ of the literary world of the eighteenth-century England, compared to his contemporary authors. Even though some of the authors of his age have thick volumes of correspondence to their credits, John Gay’s correspondence is as thin as his social position and literary fame. Had it not been for the recent efforts of the editor of The Letters of John Gay, even the present petite volume of Gay’s correspondence would not have been available for any research work and this paper alike. His high ambitions in political preferment destroyed his literary dignity. This paper intends to investigate the socio-cultural background of the young indefatigable literary figure of the English literature against which his political role is foregrounded. The descriptive method is used to meet that aim. Given the results, The Beggar’s Opera as a true, actual and direct manifestation of national detestation of the corrupt political situation and the individual, thought to be responsible for it, endorsed its ‘suspected success’ and led ‘Peter Pan’ to be the nightmare of ministers.