# Captain Macheath — The Beggar’s Opera character guide

> Captain Macheath in The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** Macheath, Captain, the Captain

**First appearance:** 0005-the-beggar-s-opera

## Snapshot

A gallant highwayman whose charm with women is both his trade and his undoing, dividing his vows between Polly and Lucy.

## Who they are

Macheath moves through taverns and Newgate alike with the swagger of a man who believes his courage and charisma will carry him through any scrape. He genuinely cares for the women he courts, yet his roving eye and taste for wine and gaming keep him perpetually entangled. When the women in his life turn informer, his confidence curdles into bitter fury — 'Women are decoy ducks; who can trust them!' — and the play's central question becomes whether charm can outrun a noose.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beggar_s_opera_se/characters/macheath
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beggar_s_opera_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/the_beggar_s_opera_se/characters