John Gay

Study question John Gay

Polly

Polly MCQs

The Beggar’s Opera

The Beggar’s Opera MCQs

Facts about John Gay

➾ John Gay, a poet and dramatist, belonged to an ancient family that had sadly become deeply impoverished.

➾ He began his career apprenticed to a London silk mercer, but he secured an early release from this service.

➾ Gay produced Wine in 1708, a peculiar piece written as a deliberate burlesque of the Miltonic writing style.

➾ His poetry often uses delicately absurd artificiality, paying comic dividends by disproportionate language and subject.

➾ In his poem Trivia, Gay correlated animals and humans, noting that both fawns and ladies get dressed in spring.

➾ He joined the Scriblerus Club, a literary group that aimed to ridicule high-flown academic pedantry collectively.

➾ The Beggar’s Opera achieved the longest known theatre run of the time, playing for 62 non-consecutive performances.

➾ The play caricatured Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole and his Whig administration for the moral degradation of society.

➾ The Lord Chamberlain banned Gay’s sequel, Polly, likely on the direct instructions of Sir Robert Walpole.

➾ The ban on Polly proved to be an excellent advertisement, netting the author over £1,000 in subscriptions.

➾ Despite disastrous investment in South Sea stock, “Honest” John Gay somehow left a significant £6,000 upon his death.

John Gay MCQs

1. When was John Gay born?

A. June 30, 1685
B. November 6, 1671
C. December 4, 1732
D. June 30, 1708

A. June 30, 1685.
John Gay, the English poet and dramatist, was born on June 30, 1685.

2. Where was John Gay born?

A. London, England
B. Barnstaple, Devon, Eng.
C. Dublin, Ireland
D. Naples, Italy

B. Barnstaple, Devon, Eng..
Gay was born in Barnstaple, Devon, England, although he eventually spent most of his professional life in London.

3. What profession was Gay originally apprenticed to in London?

A. Playwright
B. Sculptor
C. Silk mercer
D. Free-lance journalist

C. Silk mercer.
He was initially apprenticed to a silk mercer in London but was released early from his indentures to pursue writing.

4. What literary work is John Gay chiefly remembered for being the author of?

A. The Relapse
B. The Beggar’s Opera
C. Rural Sports
D. The Dunciad

B. The Beggar’s Opera.
Gay is primarily remembered as the author of The Beggar’s Opera, a highly successful work featuring good-humoured satire.

5. What was the general nature of the satire found in The Beggar’s Opera?

A. Vicious and pointed
B. Good-humoured
C. Darkly philosophical
D. Socially didactic

B. Good-humoured.
The sources describe Gay’s most famous work, The Beggar’s Opera, as being distinguished by its particularly good-humoured satire.

6. What was the title of Gay’s pamphlet surveying contemporary periodical publications in 1711?

A. The British Apollo
B. The Present State of Wit
C. Rural Sports
D. The Beggar’s Opera

B. The Present State of Wit.
Gay wrote the 1711 pamphlet titled The Present State of Wit, which provided a survey of the periodical publications of the time.

7. Who did Gay help in the production of the journal The British Apollo?

A. Pope and Swift
B. Hill and Budgell
C. Rich and Walpole
D. Brecht and Weill

B. Hill and Budgell.
Among his early literary friends were Aaron Hill and Eustace Budgell, whom he assisted with The British Apollo.

8. What employment did Gay hold from 1712 to 1714?

A. Theatre Manager
B. Silk Mercer
C. Duchess of Monmouth’s steward
D. Government Spy

C. Duchess of Monmouth’s steward.
Gay served as a steward in the household of the Duchess of Monmouth, which provided him with security and leisure time.

9. What did Gay achieve while employed by the Duchess of Monmouth?

A. Leisure and security
B. Great financial wealth
C. Political influence
D. Poet Laureate position

A. Leisure and security.
The position afforded him the crucial leisure and security to concentrate on his emerging writing career.

10. What was the title of Gay’s 1708 work, which was a burlesque of the Miltonic style?

A. The Beggar’s Opera
B. Rural Sports
C. Wine
D. Trivia

C. Wine.
In 1708, Gay wrote Wine, a burlesque of the grand style of John Milton.

11. What is cited as John Gay’s first important poem, appearing in 1713?

A. Wine
B. The Shepherd’s Week
C. Rural Sports
D. The Beggar’s Opera

C. Rural Sports.
Gay’s first important poem, published in 1713, was Rural Sports, which dealt with hunting and fishing.

12. What form of poem is Rural Sports, dealing with hunting and fishing?

A. Didactic and descriptive
B. Satirical and humorous
C. Philosophical and tragic
D. Epistolary and moral

A. Didactic and descriptive.
Rural Sports is described as a two-book descriptive and didactic work, incorporating descriptions of the English countryside.

13. What Horatian theme did Rural Sports include meditations on?

A. War strategy
B. Political intrigue
C. Artistic critique
D. Retirement

D. Retirement.
The poem Rural Sports goes beyond sports and contains serious meditations on the classical Horatian theme of retirement.

14. Which characteristic note did Gay strike in Rural Sports?

A. Deep seriousness
B. Delicately absurd artificiality
C. Overt political allegory
D. Excessive sentimentality

B. Delicately absurd artificiality.
Gay’s work often exhibited a characteristic note of meticulously planned, delicately absurd artificiality in its composition.

15. What is cited in the sources as John Gay’s finest poem?

A. Rural Sports
B. The Shepherd’s Week
C. Trivia
D. Fables

C. Trivia.
Trivia: or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London (1716) is specifically called his finest poem.

16. What is the subtitle of Gay’s finest poem, Trivia (1716)?

A. The Fool in Fashion
B. The Art of Walking the Streets
C. The Lover in Fashion
D. Virtue in Danger

B. The Art of Walking the Streets.
The full title of the poem is “Trivia: or, The Art of Walking the Streets of London,” which details urban experiences.

17. What craftsmanship does Trivia display in its writing?

A. Confusing and vague
B. Assured and precise
C. Imitative and repetitive
D. Emotional and overwrought

B. Assured and precise.
Trivia shows assured and precise craftsmanship, where rhythm and diction skillfully underscore the described experience.

18. What aspect of social life did Gay excel at delicately probing in works like Trivia?

A. Political affiliations
B. Philosophical surface
C. Surface of social life
D. Financial investments

C. Surface of social life.
Gay’s literary strength lay in his delicate probing and accurate description of the superficial surface of contemporary social life.

19. What style of poetry is The Shepherd’s Week (1714)?

A. Octosyllabic fable
B. Mock classical pastoral
C. Sentimental comedy
D. Political burlesque

B. Mock classical pastoral.
The Shepherd’s Week is a series of poems written in a mock classical style set in a pastoral countryside environment.

20. What format are the two series of Fables, published in 1727 and 1738, written in?

A. Alexandrine lines
B. Octosyllabic lines
C. Prose paragraphs
D. Heroic couplets

B. Octosyllabic lines.
The Fables, which illustrate moral themes, are specifically composed of concise eight-syllable (octosyllabic) lines.

21. What kind of themes did Gay’s Fables often illustrate?

A. Political theories
B. Financial speculation
C. Moral themes
D. Romantic devotion

C. Moral themes.
The Fables were designed as brief illustrations of important moral themes, often adopting a satirical tone.

22. Who was John Gay’s contemporary and close friend, whose poetry influenced him?

A. John Arbuthnot
B. Jonathan Swift
C. Alexander Pope
D. Sir Robert Walpole

C. Alexander Pope.
Gay was significantly influenced by the poetry and literary ideas of his close friend, the prominent poet Alexander Pope.

23. What was the name of the literary group Gay belonged to with Pope and Swift?

A. Whig Administration
B. Scriblerus Club
C. The Triumvirate
D. London Apollo

B. Scriblerus Club.
Gay, alongside Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, was a member of the anti-pedantry Scriblerus Club.

24. What was the specific aim of the Scriblerus Club?

A. Promoting drama
B. Ridicule pedantry
C. Supporting the Whigs
D. Encouraging satire

B. Ridicule pedantry.
The members of the Scriblerus Club collaborated with the specific literary goal of ridiculing scholarly pedantry.

25. Which of Gay’s satirical plays did his Scriblerus friends contribute to?

A. The Beggar’s Opera
B. Three Hours After Marriage
C. Rural Sports
D. The Non-Juror

B. Three Hours After Marriage.
Gay’s friends, including Pope and Swift, contributed to the satirical play Three Hours After Marriage, staged in 1717.

26. In what year was Gay’s most successful play, The Beggar’s Opera, first produced?

A. Seventeen eleven
B. Seventeen fifteen
C. Seventeen twenty-eight
D. Seventeen thirty-two

C. Seventeen twenty-eight.
The Beggar’s Opera, Gay’s major success, was first produced for the London stage on January 29, 1728.

27. Who was the theatre manager responsible for producing The Beggar’s Opera?

A. Colley Cibber
B. John Rich
C. Barton Booth
D. Bertolt Brecht

B. John Rich.
The play was produced successfully by the famous theatre manager, John Rich, at the Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre.

28. What record run length did The Beggar’s Opera achieve at the time of its debut?

A. Thirty performances
B. Sixty-two performances
C. One hundred performances
D. Seventy-seven performances

B. Sixty-two performances.
The play ran for 62 non-consecutive performances, the longest theatrical run known at the time.

29. What specific group did the story of The Beggar’s Opera centre around?

A. Poets and writers
B. Thieves and highwaymen
C. Merchants and servants
D. Nobles and sisters

B. Thieves and highwaymen.
The Beggar’s Opera utilised a story about thieves and highwaymen to satirically mirror the moral degradation.

30. Who did The Beggar’s Opera primarily caricature among politicians?

A. King George I
B. Sir Robert Walpole
C. Jonathan Swift
D. Alexander Pope

B. Sir Robert Walpole.
The play was specifically intended to caricature the powerful prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole, and his Whig government.

31. What specific cultural trend did The Beggar’s Opera make fun of?

A. English theatre
B. Prevailing Italian opera
C. Sentimental comedy
D. Mock classical verse

B. Prevailing Italian opera.
Part of the work’s satirical intent was to mock the popularity and fashion for prevailing Italian opera specifically.

32. What element, besides satire, contributed to the stage success of The Beggar’s Opera?

A. Pungent political commentary
B. Highly technical score
C. Effective situations and songs
D. Simple characters

C. Effective situations and songs.
The play was effective onstage largely due to its compelling dramatic situations and its easily singable songs.

33. What was the title of the sequel to The Beggar’s Opera?

A. The Non-Juror
B. Polly
C. Love’s Last Shift
D. The Threepenny Opera

B. Polly.
The immediate sequel to Gay’s successful opera was titled Polly, but its production was prohibited.

34. Who banned the production of Polly in London?

A. John Rich
B. The Lord Chamberlain
C. Sir Robert Walpole
D. Alexander Pope

B. The Lord Chamberlain.
Production of the sequel was forbidden by the powerful Lord Chamberlain, presumably acting on Walpole’s instructions.

35. What effect did the official ban have on the published edition of Polly?

A. Reduced sales significantly
B. Caused immense political trouble
C. Served as an excellent advertisement
D. Required censorship

C. Served as an excellent advertisement.
The ban acted as a superb advertisement, boosting the sales of the printed edition significantly for the author.

36. How much profit did Gay make from the subscriptions for the printed edition of Polly?

A. Less than £1,000
B. Exactly £6,000
C. More than £1,000
D. Over £620

C. More than £1,000.
Subscriptions for copies of the printed edition of Polly generated a substantial profit exceeding £1,000 for John Gay.

37. In what year was Gay’s banned sequel, Polly, eventually produced?

A. Seventeen twenty-eight
B. Seventeen thirty-two
C. Seventeen forty-three
D. Seventeen seventy-seven

D. Seventeen seventy-seven.
Polly had a moderate success when it was finally permitted to be produced on stage in 1777.

38. Which 20th-century adaptation successfully transmitted The Beggar’s Opera?

A. The Relapse
B. Die Dreigroschenoper
C. The Non-Juror
D. The Threepenny Play

B. Die Dreigroschenoper.
Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill successfully adapted Gay’s work into Die Dreigroschenoper (The Threepenny Opera) in 1928.

39. What nickname was John Gay often known by among his friends?

A. Honest John Gay
B. The Great Dramatist
C. Master of Satire
D. The Poor Poet

A. Honest John Gay.
Despite his unfortunate financial decisions, John Gay was commonly and affectionately known by the name “Honest” John Gay.

40. What caused Gay to lose most of his substantial money?

A. Political fines
B. Theatre management
C. South Sea stock
D. Excessive spending

C. South Sea stock.
Gay lost most of his personal fortune through a disastrous and unsuccessful investment in speculative South Sea stock.

41. How much money did Gay leave when he died in 1732?

A. Nothing at all
B. Six thousand pounds
C. Exactly £1,000
D. Only his debts

B. Six thousand pounds.
Despite losing most of his wealth, the sources state that Gay still left a sum of £6,000 upon his death.

42. In what year did John Gay pass away in London?

A. Seventeen twenty-eight
B. Seventeen thirty-two
C. Seventeen thirty-eight
D. Seventeen forty

B. Seventeen thirty-two.
John Gay died in London on December 4, 1732, bringing his highly influential literary career to a close.

43. Where was John Gay buried in London?

A. St Paul’s Cathedral
B. Drury Lane Theatre
C. Westminster Abbey
D. Lincoln’s Inn Fields

C. Westminster Abbey.
John Gay was buried in the prestigious Westminster Abbey, resting near the tomb of the famous poet Geoffrey Chaucer.

44. Who wrote the epitaph that marks John Gay’s final resting place?

A. Jonathan Swift
B. John Rich
C. Alexander Pope
D. Sir Robert Walpole

C. Alexander Pope.
Gay’s close friend and literary collaborator, Alexander Pope, was responsible for writing the epitaph for his tomb.

45. What form of work are Gay’s two plays, The What D’ye Call It and Three Hours After Marriage?

A. Sentimental comedies
B. Satirical plays
C. Verse tragedies
D. Descriptive poems

B. Satirical plays.
These two earlier plays, benefiting from Scriblerus Club input, are identified as satirical plays.

46. Which French dramatist was The Beggar’s Opera often contrasted with due to its subject matter?

A. Molière
B. Racine
C. Corneille
D. Not mentioned

D. Not mentioned.
The sources detail his life extensively but do not mention a specific French dramatist in contrast.

47. What specific detail about a sophisticated lady crossing the street is conveyed in a couplet from Trivia?

A. Her shoe disdains the street
B. Her walking is clumsy
C. Her dress is torn
D. Her path is muddy

A. Her shoe disdains the street.
The couplet describes the lady moving with a narrow step, specifically stating “Her shoe disdains the street”.

48. What quality did Pope value enough to write Gay’s epitaph?

A. Wealth accumulation
B. Political loyalty
C. Close friendship
D. Acting talent

C. Close friendship.
Pope and Gay were described as close friends, and Pope honoured that relationship by writing the epitaph.

49. What literary quality is conveyed by the deliberate disproportion between language and subject in Rural Sports?

A. Comic dividends
B. Moral outrage
C. Technical weakness
D. Serious reverence

A. Comic dividends.
The sources explain that this deliberate disproportion effectively pays “comic dividends,” establishing a sympathetic tone.

50. The Beggar’s Opera was one of the first successful examples of what theatrical form?

A. Italian Opera
B. Question-answer journal
C. Ballad Opera
D. Restoration tragedy

C. Ballad Opera.
The Beggar’s Opera is categorised as an English opera and is recognised today as a prime example of Ballad Opera.

Polly MCQs

1. Where is the opening scene (Scene I) of Act I?

A. London, England
B. Ducat’s house
C. American Colonies
D. Tavern drawing-room

B. Ducat’s house.
The stage directions clearly state that the opening of the play is set inside Ducat’s House in the Indies.

2. According to Trapes, what is considered genteel among the wealthy in Britain?

A. Practising thrift
B. Avoiding pleasure
C. Living within means
D. Being in debt

D. Being in debt.
Trapes informs Ducat that prodigality is fashionable in Britain, and running into debt is considered genteel.

3. What does Ducat claim he enjoys in a handsome manner?

A. Necessaries of life
B. Luxury goods
C. Foreign travel
D. His marriage

A. Necessities of life.
Ducat insists that he lives plentifully and enjoys the necessaries of life in a handsome manner.

4. Trapes suggests that morals and honesty should be left to whom?

A. The clergy
B. The vulgar
C. The pòor
D. Younger brothers

C. The pòor.
Trapes advises that morals and honesty should be left strictly to the pòor, similar to the practice in London.

5. Ducat states he buys valuable items purely out of what motive?

A. True interest
B. Shared pleasure
C. Pure ostentation
D. Investment returns

C. Pure ostentation.
Ducat confesses he buys items like books and jewels, as great men do, merely out of ostentation.

6. What does Trapes suggest Ducat should do to manage his wife?

A. Seek reconciliation
B. Keep her in awe
C. Buy her gifts
D. Show mutual complaisance

B. Keep her in awe.
Trapes recommends that Ducat break away from his wife’s “Usurpation” and keep her in awe by getting a spy.

7. Ducat says he must leave “keeping” to whom?

A. Old bachelor
B. Younger husbands
C. Common country gentlemen
D. Wealthy neighbours

A. Old bachelor’s.
Ducat excuses himself from taking a mistress, citing that he is advanced in life and should leave keeping to others.

8. According to the Air ‘What can wealth’, what cannot be sold?

A. Treasure
B. Gold
C. Youth and health
D. Desire

C. Youth and health.
In his part of AIR II, Ducat sings, “What can wealth / When we’re old? / Youth and health / Are not sold”.

9. For what primary reason did Ducat marry his wife?

A. For love
B. For her beauty
C. For her money
D. For duty

C. For her money.
Ducat clarifies to Trapes that he married his wife not for love, but “only for her money” in a reasonable way.

10. What kind of girl does Trapes tell Flimzy she must “prepare” with private conversation?

A. Modest and bashful
B. Impudent and lively
C. Highly educated
D. Financially astute

A. Modest and bashful.
Trapes explains she needs to speak privately with the girl because “The girl is bashful and modest”.

11. Trapes compares the genius of pimps and politicians in what regard?

A. Their honesty
B. Their education
C. Raising their conditions
D. Their modest fortunes

C. Raising their conditions.
Trapes notes that the genius is the same in pimps and politicians, as both raise their own conditions on others’ shame.

12. Polly Peachum was shocked to find whom on “this side of the water”?

A. Macheath
B. Ducat
C. Mrs. Ducat
D. Mrs. Trapes

D. Mrs. Trapes.
Upon seeing Trapes, Polly exclaims, “I am equally surprised to find an acquaintance here”.

13. Polly states she never engaged in her father’s affairs as what?

A. A wife
B. A thief-catcher
C. A pròstitute
D. A fortune-hunter

B. A thief-catcher.
Polly clarifies that though educated among the profligate, she never engaged as a thief or a thief-catcher.

14. What was Polly’s motive for following Macheath overseas?

A. Pursuit of wealth
B. Pursuit of quiet
C. Parental obedience
D. Seeking vengeance

B. Pursuit of quiet.
Polly tells Trapes that in following Macheath, she is “in pursuit of my quiet,” needing rest like a troubled ghost.

15. What is Macheath said to have become after running from the Plantation?

A. A governor
B. A pirate
C. A slave owner
D. A foreign minister

B. A pirate.
Trapes confirms that Macheath ran away from the Plantation and “turn’d pyrate”.

16. Who is Macheath reported to have married after arriving in the country?

A. Polly Peachum
B. Jenny Diver
C. Mrs. Trapes
D. Damaris

B. Jenny Diver.
Trapes tells Polly that Macheath married Jenny Diver, a transported slave, who is now gone off with him.

17. In what capacity does Trapes recommend Polly to Mrs. Ducat?

A. A spy
B. A gentlewoman
C. A favourite mistress
D. A job customer

B. A gentlewoman.
Trapes tells Polly she will recommend her, Miss Polly, to Mrs. Ducat as a gentlewoman seeking service.

18. What price (for Trapes) does Ducat agree to pay for Polly?

A. Half a crown
B. Five hundred pounds
C. A hundred pistoles
D. Ten guineas

C. A hundred pistoles.
After haggling, Ducat accepts the price and pays Trapes “a hundred pistoles” for the girl.

19. How does Ducat try to manage the situation when his wife returns suddenly?

A. Hides Polly away
B. Tells the truth
C. Sends Trapes out
D. Calls the servants

C. Sends Trapes out.
Ducat tells Trapes to “Get you out of the way this moment,” so his wife does not see her before he is put in possession.

20. How does Mrs. Ducat expect to behave now that Ducat is acting like an English husband?

A. With submission
B. Like an English wife
C. With compliance
D. With good manners

B. Like an English wife.
Mrs Ducat threatens: “If you behave yourself like an English husband, I will behave myself like an English wife”.

21. Mrs. Ducat says she will not be stinted in what two areas?

A. Love or expenses
B. Morals or duties
C. Thrift or prudence
D. Pride or reason

A. Love or expenses.
Mrs Ducat states, “I will not be stinted—in love or expenses,” as she plans to copy court ladies.

22. Why does Ducat believe pòor people are happy in marriage?

A. Love sustains them
B. Afford to disagree
C. Cannot afford to disagree
D. Lack ambition

C. Cannot afford to disagree.
Ducat reflects that pòor people are happy in marriage “out of necessity, because they cannot afford to disagree”.

23. What two roles does Damaris say she is employed in?

A. Watch man/wife
B. Spy on Trapes
C. Clean/tattle
D. Cook/sew

A. Watch man/wife.
Damaris reveals she is employed by her master to watch her mistress, and by her mistress to watch her master.

24. What weapon does Ducat use to show his intent to take liberties with Polly?

A. A bribe
B. A threat
C. Barring the door
D. A kiss

C. Barring the door.
Ducat says he wants a private conversation, then “bars the door,” suggesting a clear intention to prevent escape.

25. Polly states she can dare to be what, despite her English upbringing?

A. Pòor
B. Dishonest
C. Ungrateful
D. Vulgar

A. Pòor.
Polly tells Ducat that she can dare to be pòor, which she calls “the only thing now-a-days men are asham’d of”.

26. How does Ducat claim he legally acquired Polly?

A. By purchase
B. By inheritance
C. As a slave
D. Through marriage

C. As a slave.
Ducat explicitly tells Polly she is betrayed and sold, and is “legally my property, as any woman is her husband’s, who sells her self in marriage”.

27. What ultimatum does Ducat give Polly regarding her service?

A. Pleasure or profit
B. Love or death
C. Loyalty or torture
D. Work or poverty

A. Pleasure or profit.
Ducat demands that Polly either contribute to his “pleasure or my profit,” threatening field work otherwise.

28. What news causes the initial uproar and interruption of the scene?

A. The Indians attack
B. The ship arrived
C. The pirates invade
D. The governor quits

C. The pirates invade.
Damaris rushes in screaming that the whole country is in an uproar because “The pirates are all coming down upon us”.

29. Who does the Indian soldier identify as the current pirate chief?

A. Macheath
B. Morano
C. Ducat
D. Capstern

B. Morano.
The Indian reports Macheath is rumoured dead, and Morano, a Negro villain, is their chief.

30. What excuse does Ducat use to justify not fighting the pirates?

A. Lack of courage
B. Musquets are rusty
C. Too busy
D. Family duty

B. Musquets are rusty.
The First Footman confirms Ducat’s muskets are “Rusty, Sir, all rusty and peaceable,” providing an excuse against fighting.

31. What does Mrs. Ducat believe about Polly based on her “overhonest look”?

A. She is genuine
B. She is a loyal servant
C. She is a hypocrite
D. She is a widow

C. She is a hypocrite.
Mrs Ducat suspects Polly is a “horrid jade” and “A mere hypocrite, that is perfectly white-wash with innocence”.

32. Polly reveals that her father and mother used her inhumanely because she married for what reason?

A. For money
B. She loved him
C. For ambition
D. To escape them

B. She loved him.
Polly explains that she married Macheath “only because I lov’d him,” leading to her parents’ inhumanity.

33. What does Damaris suggest will be the “effectual revenge” on Mr. Ducat?

A. Mrs. Ducat is leaving
B. Loss of her service
C. Loss of money
D. Ducat’s capture

C. Loss of money.
Damaris points out that the loss of the money Ducat paid for Polly “will touch him to the quick”.

34. What item of clothing does Mrs. Ducat give Polly for her escape?

A. A sailor’s coat
B. A dress
C. Boy’s clothes
D. Indian attire

C. Boy’s clothes.
Mrs. Ducat gives Polly her dead nephew’s suit, believing a man’s habit offers fewer risks as a traveller.

35. What does Polly sing that she uses as her protection during her travels?

A. Fortune
B. Beauty
C. Virtue
D. Hope

C. Virtue.
Polly declares, “May virtue be my protection; for I feel within me hope, cheerfulness and resolution”.

36. Why do the pirates Hacker, Culverin, and Capstern admit to lying about intelligence?

A. To get favour
B. To get treasure
C. To save their lives
D. For amusement

A. To get favour.
Laguerre states they must know that “to get favour or keep it, no man ever speaks what he thinks, but what is convenient”.

37. What is the “richest sin” according to Cutlace’s song (AIR XXIV)?

A. Gambling
B. Lying
C. Murder
D. Greed

B. Lying.
Cutlace sings, “Of all the sins that are money-supplying… The richest sin is lying”.

38. What great conquest does Hacker insist should be his lot?

A. Peru
B. Cuba
C. Mexico
D. Cartagena

C. Mexico.
Hacker declares, “The kingdom of Mexico shall be mine. My lot shall be the kingdom of Mexico,” leading to a fight.

39. Polly flatters the pirates by saying she chose their “more honourable way” of making a fortune because she hates those who rise by what?

A. War and toil
B. Tricks and disguise
C. Strong weapons
D. Noble birth

B. Tricks and disguise.
Polly claims she hates “coward trìbes, / Who by mean sneaking bribes, / By tricks and disguise” rise to grandeur.

40. What name does Morano confirm is dead to all the world but Jenny?

A. Vanderbluff
B. Macheath
C. Pohetohee
D. Peachum

B. Macheath.
Morano assures Jenny that the rumour of his death is true, saying, “Mackheath is dead to all the world but you”.

41. Why does Morano state he originally disguised himself as a black?

A. To evade police
B. To escape women
C. To deceive the crew
D. To earn respect

B. To escape women.
Morano says he disguised himself as a black man to screen himself from women who laid claim to him everywhere he went.

42. What advice does Jenny give Morano about securing their fortune?

A. Stay and conquer
B. Rob the crew
C. Be more treacherous
D. Seek allies

B. Rob the crew.
Jenny advises Morano to rob the crew and steal off to England while they have a competence in their power.

43. Who does Vanderbluff capture for examination?

A. Polly
B. Cawwawkee
C. An old woman
D. An English officer

B. Cawwawkee.
Vanderbluff and his party return with the Indian prince Cawwawkee as a prisoner after a short skirmish.

44. What trait does Morano mock the Indian prince for having in practice?

A. Notional honour
B. Cowardice
C. Ignorance
D. Barbarity

A. Notional honour.
Morano mocks Cawwawkee’s defiance, noting that they have “our notional honour still in practice among ’em”.

45. What quality does Cawwawkee assert is always in his power, even when his life is threatened?

A. His treasure
B. His strength
C. His virtue
D. His friends

C. His virtue.
When Morano asks if he knows his danger, Cawwawkee responds, “I know too, that my virtue is in my own”.

46. What reason does Cawwawkee give for hiding gold from Europeans?

A. It is scarce
B. It is a poison
C. It is sacred
D. It brings happiness

B. It is a poison.
Cawwawkee says gold should be hidden because, for Europeans, “tis so rank a poison to you… that the very touch of it makes you mad”.

47. What motivates Capstern and Laguerre to free the Indian prince Cawwawkee?

A. Shared principles
B. The offer of places/gold
C. Fear of Morano
D. Polly’s beauty

B. The offer of places/gold.
The pirates are tempted by the prospect that the Prince can give them places and money, securing their fortunes.

48. What does Ducat offer to do for King Pohetohee right before battle?

A. Give up fighting
B. Lead the troops
C. Offer intelligence
D. Share his wealth

A. Give up fighting.
Ducat tells the King he is prepared to do all he can, but “I would fain give up,” citing his promise to his wife.

49. What does Polly realise when Jenny identifies Morano’s true identity?

A. He is a monster
B. He is her husband
C. He is a good man
D. He is Pohetohee

B. He is her husband.
When Jenny cries out “Morano is my husband,” Polly realizes he is Macheath and cries “Macheath!”.

50. Since Polly cannot marry him, what does Cawwawkee request from his father regarding her?

A. That she be tortured
B. That she be his companion
C. That she be his slave
D. That she be his friend

D. That she be his friend.
Cawwawkee, despite his desire, asks Polly’s permission to attend her to divide her griefs and soften her sorrows.

Brief Overview

Polly is a ballad opera by John Gay, published in 1729. It functions as a sharp sequel to The Beggar’s Opera. The play satirizes British society and imperialism, addressing themes of greed, colonialism, capitalism, and moral corruption.

The play opens in the Indies at the house of the rich Mr. Ducat. Ducat married his wife only for her money. Mrs. Trapes, a woman who finds girls for men, arrives. She offers Ducat a girl named Polly Peachum.

Polly came overseas in search of her husband, Captain Macheath. Trapes tells Polly that Macheath is rumored to be dead. He ran away from a plantation and became a pirate, marrying another woman, Jenny Diver.

Ducat secretly buys Polly from Trapes for a large payment. Ducat forces Polly to stay, claiming she is his property. Mrs. Ducat discovers the new girl and is furious. Polly confesses that Trapes sold her. Mrs. Ducat helps Polly escape, giving her boy’s clothes for safety.

Pirates soon attack the country. Polly, disguised as a boy, is captured by the pirates. The pirate chief, Morano, is actually Macheath in disguise. The Indian King Pohetohee later captures Macheath. Polly begs the King to save her husband. The King suspends Macheath’s death sentence. The Indian Prince Cawwawkee, who loves Polly, respects her honest heart.