Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny: Analysis of Major Characters
"Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny" is an opera that explores themes of hedonism, capitalism, and moral decay through its complex characters. Central to the narrative is Jimmy Gallagher, a lumberjack who embodies the hedonistic lifestyle of Mahagonny, a city where all pleasures can be purchased. His proclamation that "everything is permitted" sets the stage for the city's eventual chaos, culminating in his trial and execution for being broke, which is deemed the ultimate sin in this society. Ladybird Begpick, a co-founder of Mahagonny, manipulates men for profit, running a tavern while also acting as a judge during the trial. The character of Jenny, a prostitute and Jimmy's lover, adds emotional depth, as she ultimately abandons him in his time of need. Supporting characters like Trinity Moses and Fatty the Booky illustrate the social outcasts who navigate their own survival in this tumultuous environment. Other former lumberjacks, such as Jake and Alaskawolf Joe, exemplify the consequences of indulgence and betrayal. Together, these characters present a critical lens on excess and the fragility of human relationships within a capitalist framework.
Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Bertolt Brecht
First published: Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, 1929 (English translation, 1957)
Genre: Play
Locale: The mythical American West
Plot: Epic
Time: The mid-nineteenth century
Jimmy Gallagher, also known in different versions of the opera as Jim Mahoney or Paul Ackermann, a lumberjack from Alaska. He is a hedonist who entangles himself in the nets of Mahagonny, a city in which one can buy all pleasures. During the approach of a hurricane that threatens to destroy Mahagonny, Jimmy proclaims his new principle, that henceforth everything is permitted. After the city has been saved miraculously, and as the people of Mahagonny continue to indulge in excessive eating, lovemaking, fighting, and drinking, to the point at which some people begin to die, Jimmy is arrested and tried in an ad hoc court. Although he is acquitted of most of the charges, he is sentenced to death for what is considered the capital offense of Mahagonny: to be without money.
Ladybird Begpick, known in different versions as Leocadia Begbick or Leokadia Begpick, a fugitive from justice who becomes the cofounder of Mahagonny in a desolate place on the road to Alaska. Like her namesake in another of Bertolt Brecht's plays ( Man Equals Man, 1926), Begpick uses men for her profit by catering to their pleasures. In Mahagonny, she runs the As-You-Like-It Tavern (Hotel Rich Man in the more literal translation from German) and also performs the function of judge in the trial scene.
Jenny, known in different versions as Jenny Jones or Jenny Smith, a prostitute. She lures men on their way back from Alaska into Begpick's tavern and becomes Jimmy's lover. She sings the most lyrical passages of the opera, including the “Alabama Song,” “Let Me Tell You What My Mother Called Me,” and (together with Jimmy) the love duet “See there two cranes veer by one with another.” Jenny abandons Jimmy in his critical situation and refuses to loan him money according to his (and her own) principle, “ f someone must kick, why, that's my part.”
Trinity Moses and Fatty the Booky (who is known in a different version as Willy the Booky), both social outcasts who are on the run from justice and who help Begpick with the founding of the city of Mahagonny. Like Begpick, they survive both the pleasures and the accusations of Mahagonny. In the trial scene, Fatty is the defense attorney and Moses the prosecutor. At the end of the opera, they proclaim, together with Begpick, a new price hike and the fight of everyone against everyone as the most extreme form of capitalism.
John Jacob (Jake) Smith, known in different versions as Jack O'Brian or Jakob Schmidt, Alaskawolf Joe, known in a different version as Joseph Lettner, and Bookkeeping Billy, known in a different version as Heinrich Merg, all former lumberjacks who worked with Jimmy in Alaska but who refuse to help him out of his financial debt in Mahagonny. Jake dies of overeating, and Joe is killed by Trinity Moses in a boxing match. Bill takes over Jenny from Jimmy when the latter is executed in the electric chair (or hanged, in another version).