The Historicity of The Beggar's Opera in the Eighteenth-Century England

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (1728) is one of the most popular ballad operas in the eighteenth century. This work satirizes the notable Whig statesman Robert Walpole and has far-reaching implications for a country's culture in the long eighteenth century. In this research project, I have reread the work from the viewpoint of Benedict Anderson's "imagined community." Through the comparison with many contemporary discourse, I have examined the historicity of this work in forging British nation in the next century.