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e: info@dianedoble.com
t: +44 (0) 117 924 7723
10 Richmond Avenue
Montpelier, Bristol BS6 5ET |
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| When John Gay’s, ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ was first
staged as a ballad opera in 1728, at the Theatre Royal, Lincoln’s
Inn Fields, it was without precedence – an undeniable innovation.
As an instant success with perennial appeal for audience of all kinds,
it paved the way for a form of drama known today as the musical. Two
hundred years later, ‘The Beggar’s Opera’ became
the inspiration for Bertolt Brecht’s and Kurt Weill’s
‘The Threepenny Opera’ (1928) where Macheath developed
into Mack the Knife and Jenny Diver became Low Dive Jenny. |
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| In the 17th & 18th century a ‘Jenny’ was a diminutive
for a small and lively, birdlike woman. As archaic slang, in the 16th,
17th & 18th century, a ‘Diver’ was a criminal’s female accomplice
and pickpocket. So, Jenny Diver was a pretty, birdlike pickpocket
and heroine who was the favourite ‘Moll’ of the charismatic hero and
criminal, Macheath. In this production, Jenny Diver was played by
Lynda Bellingham, who subsequently bought the the first print of the
edition while playing Maggie in 'Sugar Mummies' at the Royal Court. |
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PRINT: £64 |
287x546mm |
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MOUNT: £80 |
380x645mm |
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FRAME: £140 |
Light-gold antiqued frame: 380x645mm |
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| Peachum’s name suggests a derivation from the slang
for the verb ‘to peach’ (16th-18th century). In other words:
to inform against associates and accomplices, to betray or tell upon an
opponent to the equivalent of the police, or to grass. The latter stems
from the Latin word ‘grassant’, meaning roaming about, or lurking
with evil intent. In the design we see Peachum who was a ‘fence’
and dealt in stolen goods from his establishment moving stealthily about
his business, like a mixture of Groucho Marx with Fagin intentions. |
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PRINT: £83 |
372x558mm |
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MOUNT: £98 |
460x650mm |
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FRAME: £175 |
Light-gold antiqued frame: 460x650mm |
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| Originating from dialect in the early 18th century, a ‘Molly’
(later shortened to ‘Moll’) was slang for prostitute. This glaring,
‘strumpet’ yellow costume, cheaply printed with a ‘Tree
of Life’ design, is structured by its 18th century corset and an underskirt
/ petticoat supported with a swaying farthingale of hoops (probably whalebone
or cane originally). It was designed to emphasise the character of Molly
Brazen and all that her name suggests. She is a brazen hussy, shameless,
hardened in effrontery, impudent and strident. |
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PRINT: £62 |
349x435mm |
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MOUNT: £77 |
472x645mm |
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FRAME: £138 |
Light-gold antiqued frame: 472x645mm |
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Most of the female characters in ‘The Beggar’s
Opera’ have names that label them as ‘women of the town’.
Originating from dialect in the early 18th century, a ‘Molly’
(later shortened to ‘Moll’) was slang for prostitute. The world’s
oldest professionals have been given many other names such as: courtesan,
harlot, strumpet, trollop, baggage, drab, jade, minx, slut, bawd, trull
and wench.
Molly Brazen’s skin was whitened by lead, and although her beauty
spots and buxomly cleavage hearts were placed to allure they probably also
disguised strategically the ravaging scars of smallpox. |
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PRINT: £56 |
282x484mm |
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MOUNT: £71 |
380x645mm |
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FRAME: £125 |
Light-gold antiqued frame: 380x645mm |
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| The term ‘Betty’ materialised in the early 17th
century as slang for a crowbar used by burglars. Arising from slang of mid
16th century dialect, ‘Doxy’ was an expression for a mistress,
prostitute, or promiscuous woman. It was also an idiom for a beggar’s
wench. From slang surfacing between 1600-1629, it became a phrase indicating
a girlfriend of a gangster or criminal. Like many women in the 18th century
who led a streetwalker existence and experienced its duress, Betty Doxy
masked her troubles by singing, dancing and drinking gin. Hogarth’s
prints of ‘Gin Lane” documented and broadcast how this cheap
drink of the poverty stricken masses effected their circumstances further. |
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PRINT: £88 |
444x497mm |
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MOUNT: £105 |
540x590mm |
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FRAME: £180 |
Light-gold antiqued frame: 540x590mm |
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| All content © Diane Doble 2007 |
Design: Dunstan Baker [honeyrooms.com] |
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