Quote 4
“And I
did work out something: the rich of the earth indeed create misery,
but they cannot bear to see it. They are weaklings and fools just
like you. As long as they have enough to eat and can grease their
floors with butter so that even the crumbs that fall from their
tables grow fat, they can’t look with indifference on a man collapsing
from hunger—although, of course, it must be in front of their house
that he collapses.”
Prior to this quote, taken from Act
III scene I, Peachum has decided to gather more than a thousand
beggars to make a real profit from the upper class who turn out
for the coronation. He stresses that they would be even worse off
if he hadn’t spent so much time figuring out exactly what would
inspire people’s sympathy—and charity. His study of the upper class
has taught him that to turn a profit, one needs to evoke such a
large amount of sympathy, and for this, a costume is required. Of
course, one of many ironies about Peachum’s complaint is that he
is relatively wealthy, when compared to the beggars that he employs.
But unlike the rich he criticizes in the quote, Peachum has no problem
looking with “indifference” on the poor and downtrodden.
