author
John Gay
1685–1732
Best known for creating The Beggar’s Opera, this English poet and dramatist mixed sharp satire with an easy, playful style. His work helped shape eighteenth-century literary life and stayed popular long after his death.
5 Audiobooks
The Poetical Works of Addison; Gay's Fables; and Somerville's Chase With Memoirs and Critical Dissertations, by the Rev. George Gilfillan
by Joseph Addison, John Gay, William Somerville
The Beggar's Opera
by John Gay
Three Hours after Marriage
by John Gay, John Arbuthnot, Alexander Pope
Fables of John Gay (Somewhat Altered)
by John Benson Rose, John Gay
About the author
Born in Barnstaple, Devon, in 1685, John Gay became one of the best-known English writers of the early eighteenth century. He is remembered chiefly for The Beggar’s Opera (1728), a hugely successful ballad opera that poked fun at politics, fashion, and Italian opera while speaking in a lively voice that ordinary audiences could enjoy.
Gay moved in important literary circles and was associated with the Scriblerus Club, alongside figures such as Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift. Before his greatest theatrical success, he wrote poems, fables, and plays, building a reputation for wit, charm, and good-humored satire.
Although some details of his life are still debated in older sources, reliable modern references agree that he died in London in 1732. Today he remains a key figure in English literature, especially for readers interested in satire, stage history, and the lively culture of eighteenth-century London.