The Threepenny Opera Appearances Quotes

Scabies (can we just say, yuck?) is a contagious skin infection caught from tiny mites, and leaves quite an ugly rash in its wake. Peachum, who sells costumes to make beggars look more pitiful than they already are, would rather his clients use a phony rash. The appearance of a rash might inspire more charity than actual suffering.

When he finds out that the law is after him, Mac knows he has to pack up and leave. But he instructs his new wife, Polly, to go about her business as though nothing has changed. This type of keeping up appearances is meant to cover up the crisis that the couple find themselves in.

"Making an honest woman" out of someone used to mean marrying her. Nowadays we hope that ladies make honest women out of themselves, but Lucy was a woman of her time and needed Mac to help her find her way in society. Of course, the position that marriage would give her is questionable when you think about the kind of guy she's hitching her wagon to.