John Gay
John Gay (born June 30, 1685 in Barnstaple , Devonshire , † December 4, 1732 in London ) was an English writer who mainly wrote poems , stories, novels and fables . Along with Jonathan Swift , Alexander Pope, and John Arbuthnot , Gay formed the group of Tory satirists known as the Scriblerus Club .
Life
Coming from a Spanish family, Gay lost his parents at a young age and grew up with his uncle, Reverend John Hammer. He received his education at Barnstable Grammar School. Then he began an apprenticeship with a silk merchant in London. He hated this work and soon found entry into literary circles in the English capital. 1712-1714 he worked as a secretary in the household of the Duchess of Monmouth. Here, in 1714, he wrote The Shepherd's Week , a collection of six pastorals (shepherd poems). He later became secretary to Lord Clarendon, an MP for the Tories. After Queen Anne's death , the Tory government was overthrown, leaving Gay unemployed. Impoverished by unsuccessful financial speculation, he spent the last few years of his life mainly with his patrons, Duke and Duchess of Queensberry, in Wiltshire . In 1732 he returned to London, where he died. Gay was buried in Westminster Abbey . His saying is written on his tombstone:
- Life is a jest, and all things show it;
- I thought so once, and now I know it.
- Life is a joke and everything points to it;
- so I once thought, now I know.
Gay's best-known work is the text book for the satirical musical play The Beggar's Opera . With the figure of Peachum, which is based on the most famous English criminal of the 18th century Jonathan Wild , the British Prime Minister Robert Walpole was caricatured at the same time . The music was written by Johann Christoph Pepusch . Pepusch took the themes of the 69 music numbers from popular arias and chants and composed only the overture and one song himself . The Beggar's Opera premiered in London's Lincoln's Inn Theater in 1728 .
expenditure
- John Gay: The Beggar Opera. With drawings by Josef Hegenbarth , 1961.
Web links
- Literature by and about John Gay in the catalog of the German National Library
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gay, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English writer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 30, 1685 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Barnstaple , Devonshire |
| DATE OF DEATH | December 4, 1732 |
| Place of death | London |