After Peachum finishes singing, Jenny sings “The Song
of Solomon.” In this song, each verse describes a different character with
a different virtue. The twist is that each character’s virtue is what
brings him or her to doom. Each verse concludes with Jenny singing
that a fortunate person does not have the virtue she describes.
First comes Solomon, who was too wise for his own good. Second is
Cleopatra, who was too beautiful. Third is Caesar, who was too courageous.
Fourth is Brecht himself, who was too inquisitive. The final example
is Macheath, who is too emotional.
Analysis
Brecht emphasizes self-interest through Peachum’s speech
about preying on the wealthy’s self-interest. The wealthy class
desires not to feel guilty, which motivates them to give money to
Peachum’s beggars. As a result, the wealthy class’s donation alleviates
their guilt. Peachum’s speech about how he uses the guilt of the
rich to earn his living also displays his concern for only himself.
However, one would argue that if human beings are creatures driven
only by self-interest, they should not have feelings of sympathy
that lead them to give money to the poor. Yet Peachum is still in
business, which means the rich continue to feel guilty and provide
to the beggars. Peachum even attempts to elicit sympathy from the
audience when he explains how the rich do not care if they create
misery, yet they do not want to see the misery. If Peachum embraces
sympathy, then it must be hypocritical because he only does it for
the wealth of his business. Peachum continues to play the part of
the villain because he profits off those who are poor and are pretending
to be poor. Peachum does not give another thought to the beggars
who are too poor to go into business with him and give a share of
their money to him. In the play, sympathy is used as another example
of how hypocritical and cruel human beings are. Instead of changing the
economic and social system that creates human misery, people would
rather throw a few pennies at the homeless man on the corner. Peachum
knows that society is not willing to change the economic and social
system, which is why his business continues to profit.
“The Song of the Futility of All Human Endeavor” emphasizes the
competitiveness of the capitalist system. Immediately following this
song, Peachum explains that Brown cannot stop him because of how
the beggars will affect the queen’s coronation. Brown’s powerlessness
is not merely a matter of being unable to muster enough police to
arrest all the beggars in London; he is powerless because everyone
is part of a powerless system. Brown’s main concern to save his
reputation as a sheriff by finding a way for Peachum’s beggars not
to disrupt the coronation has ruined his reputation as a sheriff.
By attempting to stay loyal to a thief and murderer, Brown has compromised
his job as the sheriff because he has been forced to give in to
threats. Brown’s relationship with Macheath was intended to boost
his role as the sheriff. Instead, their arrangement has only caused
problems because Brown realized he could not choose loyalty to his
criminal friend over his duty as the sheriff. As Peachum sings,
when everyone tries to attain happiness, happiness cannot be reached.
The characters live in a system that breeds brutal competition,
so Peachum’s and Brown’s efforts to defeat one another is not out
of the ordinary. Peachum will do anything to make money: If releasing
his beggars on the coronation will help him receive that reward
for Macheath’s capture and save his business, he will do it.
Peachum’s logic for obeying the law also demonstrates
the arbitrariness of values. Peachum argues that one should not
only obey the law because it is right but because the law helps
people to exploit the weak and stupid. His last reason for the obeying
the law conveniently fits with Peachum’s purpose for his business.
By employing beggars to seek sympathy from the higher classes, Peachum
thinks he is helping the wealthier citizens see how others who are
not as fortunate live everyday. Peachum’s scheme is an example of
how villains normally work. In traditional dramas, the villain would
be someone who pursues evil for its own ends. He would be the self-proclaimed
enemy of morality. Such a character would actually reinforce conventional
moral positions by showing how horrible their opposites are. In The
Threepenny Opera, however, the villain Peachum advocates
conventional moral positions. By making such a character the villain,
Brecht poses the question of whether conventional morality has any
validity at all. Although Peachum believes he is devoted to obeying
the law, he in fact translates the law under his terms, which results
in the arbitrariness of values.
“The Song of Solomon” that Jenny sings at the end of the
scene continues Brecht’s method of alienating the audience. Jenny’s
song describes a series of characters who possessed traditional
virtues but who were doomed because of them. In so doing, Brecht
criticizes traditional virtues as being actually vices, because
they lead to downfall. Brecht even includes himself as one of the
characters to further distance the audience from the action of the
play and make them think critically. Most importantly, Jenny does
not offer virtues to take the place of those traditionally admired.
This argument about virtues as vices, where Brecht demolishes a
traditional idea but does not offer a solution in its place, is
intended to make the audience think of the answer. Questions arise
over what a virtue is and if any of the virtues Jenny lists are
worthwhile or if they should be discarded. Brecht asks these questions
to force the audience to examine their own values.
