The Beggar's Opera

Oh the love/hate relationship I have with John Gay's The Beggar's Opera! I know that it is too easy for me to look back on time and literature with a revisionist mindset and be critical of the sexism that is rampant in the play; however, it is quite interesting to see the ideas about gender in British society in 1728. Traditionally stereotypical representations of women have almost always included the "bitch or whore" dichotomy and the belief that their sole value is in their bodies.  The women in this play are no exception. Polly and Lucy are consistently referred to as "whores" and "sluts" by their respective parents, others around them, and even the object of their affection, Macheath himself.   Both think themselves in love and married to him even though they meet the other mistress.  Most disgusting is that up until the bitter end, both Polly and Lucy are still truly vying for the captain's affections, asking "No token of love?" in the most pathetic of manners (Act III, Sc. XV.) Macheath doesn't even reply, instead four more mistresses with his illegitimate children enter the cell.  Really? The fact that the author decides to end the play without justice for Macheath's iniquities is unfathomable.  But the author does not even stop there---he goes so far as to have Macheath take his pick of all the women while they try to seduce him again.  Each objectified woman "calls forth her charms, to provoke his desires"; once again the womens' bodies are there only chance for power or happiness (Act III, Sc. XVII).  I know it is literature, but the layers of meaning in it all makes it difficult for me to read.