Ladies, I hope you will give me leave to present a Partner to each of you. And (if I may without Offence) for this time, I take Polly for mine.—And for Life, you Slut,—for we were really marry’d.—As for the rest.—But at present keep your own Secret.
He finally chooses Polly because they were really married
My dear Lucy—My dear Polly—Whatsoever hath pass’d between us is now at an end—If you are fond of marrying again, the best Advice I can give you, is to Ship yourselves off for the West-Indies, where you’ll have a fair Chance of getting a Husband a-piece, or by good Luck, two or three, as you like best.
He tells both his women to move on from him
Peachum and Lockit, you know, are infamous Scoundrels. Their Lives are as much in your Power, as yours are in theirs.—Remember your dying Friend!—’Tis my last Request.—Bring those Villains to the Gallows before you, and I am satisfied.
He tells his men to kill Peachum and Lockit because eventually everyone will be hanged and they should be hanged before his men
You see this affair will soon be at an end
admits to having an affair and is told he has to choose between Polly and Lucy
All this Wheedling of Lucy cannot be for nothing.—At this time too! when I know she hates me!—The Dissembling of a Woman is always the Forerunner of Mischief.—By pouring Strong-Waters down my Throat, she thinks to pump some Secrets out of me,—I’ll be upon my Guard, and won’t taste a Drop of her Liquor, I’m resolv’d.
She knew Lucy plan to kill her
When a Woman loves; a kind Look, a tender Word can persuade her to any thing—And I could ask no other Bribe.
She let him escape for love. Of course Lockit must see this as pathetic because love than was transactional
Lucy. My Father, I know, hath been drinking hard with the Prisoners: and I fancy he is now taking his Nap in his own Room—If I can procure the Keys, shall I go off with thee, my Dear? Macheath. If we are together, ’twill be impossible to lie conceal’d. As soon as the Search begins to be a 58 little cool, I will send to thee—’Till then my Heart is thy Prisoner. Lucy. Come then, my dear Husband—owe thy Life to me—and though you love me not—be grateful,—but that Polly runs in my Head strangely.
He has tricked her completely into making a plan to blow him to escape and she is falling for his empty promises.
And hast thou the Heart to persist in persuading me that I am married? Why, Polly, dost thou seek to aggravate my Misfortunes?
He is not claiming Polly in front of Lucy because of his plan and is calling her a liar.
Like a good Wife, go moan over your dying Husband. That, Child is your Duty—Consider, Girl, you can’t have the Man and the Money too—so make yourself as easy as you can, by getting all you can from him. Exit Lockit.
Same thing that Polly parents told her to do with Macheath is the same advice Lockit is giving to Lucy
my dear Lucy, to see a Husband in these Circumstances?
So Mrs. Peachum was right that he is married to more than just Polly
I seize you, Sir, as my Prisoner.
Even though Polly warned Macheath he was still tricked and captured by Peachum and became one of his prisoner which foreshadows death.
The Town perhaps have been as much obliged to me, for recruiting it with free-hearted Ladies,
He can never just be with one women he needs multiple. She trusts him too much leading her to be a fool
What a Fool is a fond Wench! Polly is most confoundedly bit.—I love the Sex. And a Man who loves Money, might as well be contented with one Guinea, as I with one Woman.
This is how sees Polly
Business cannot go on without him. He is a Man who knows the World, and is a necessary Agent to us. We have had a slight Difference, and ’till it is 31 accommodated I shall be oblig’d to keep out of his way. Any private Dispute of mine shall be of no ill consequence to my Friends. You must continue to act under his Direction, for the moment we break loose from him, our Gang is ruin’d.
This foreshadow that what Peachum was saying was right because he noticed the power he has and he wants it. The best way to get to him is through his daughter.
We must, we must.—My Papa and Mama are set against thy Life. They now, even now are in Search after thee. They are preparing Evidence against thee. Thy Life depends upon a moment. 26
She betrays her family for Macheath and tells him her fathers plan to get him hanged.
Like other Women, Sir, upon the Industry of my Husband.
She believes that she will live off her husband which is stereotypical of a women in this time period
I am very sensible, Husband, that 18 Captain Macheath is worth Money, but I am in doubt whether he hath not two or three Wives already, and then if he should die in a Session or two, Polly’s Dower would come into Dispute.
Mrs. Peachum believes that he has two or three wives already and polly is just an addition to the list, so it would be like a competition between the wives to capture his inheritance if he was to pass away
Do you think your Mother and I should have liv’d comfortably so long together, if ever we had been married? Baggage!
so that means Peachum and Mrs. Peachum are not even married themselves?
I did not marry him (as ’tis the Fashion) coolly and deliberately for Honour or Money. But, I love him.
love at this time was mainly seen as transactional instead of emotional.
You know, Polly, I am not against your toying and trifling with a Customer in the way of Business, or to get out a Secret, or so. But if I find out that you have play’d the Fool and are married, you Jade you, I’ll cut your Throat,
establishing dominance
If the Wench does not know her own Profit, sure she knows her own Pleasure better than to make herself a Property! My Daughter to me should be, like a Court-Lady to a Minister of State, a Key to the whole Gang. Married! If the Affair is not already done, I’ll terrify her from it, by the Example of our Neighbours.
He does not approve of his daughter marrying this man and believes she deserves better. At this time period it was usually fathers arranging their daughter marriages to people either above their status or the same status. He feels like he could still influence her choices within this marriage. He sees his daughter as his property and he specifically wants to have all the power
But ’tis now high time to look about me for a decent Execution against next Sessions.
He is choosing who to execute.
If none of the Gang take her off, she may, in the common course of Business, live a Twelve-month longer. I love to let Women scape. A good Sportsman always lets the Hen Partridges fly, because the Breed of the Game depends upon them. Besides, here the Law allows us no Reward; there is nothing to be got by the Death of Women—except our Wives.
Here demonstrates how much power that Peachum has over the community since he is able to decide who gets to be put on trial or not.
Without dispute, she is a fine Woman! ’Twas to her I was obliged for my Education, and (to say a bold Word) she hath trained up more young Fellows to the Business than the Gaming table.
It seems here that Filch a male character is telling Peachum that he learned everything he knows from a women which defeats gender norms. I know in the past women are usually seen as sexual objects or baby delivers.