Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
The play opens in a "Fair in Soho. The beggars are begging. The thieves are stealing, the whores are whoring" (P. 2-4). This setting stands in for all of London, and perhaps the entire capitalist world.
The fair is divided between beggars, the poorest of the poor, thieves running around stealing from others, and prostitutes selling themselves (these characters represent the bourgeoisie and capitalists). Brecht used these figures—beggars, thieves, and whores—as symbols for the injustice of the capitalist system, where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, and where everything and everyone has a price.