Background
• Orphaned at an early age, he was brought up by his uncle, the Reverend John Hammer.
• John's poetry was influenced a lot by that of Alexander Pope, who was a close friend. Their friendship started due to the dedication of his "Rural Sports" (1713),the first important poem, to Pope. They, together with Jonathan Swift and John Arbuthnot, were members of the Scriblerus Club, the aim of which was to ridicule pedantry. There are also some works of Gay, published in this period.("The Present State of Wit (1711) , the Spectator, the Taller, To Liutot's Miscellany" (1712)
• The death of Queen Anne had a serious impact on Gay's career. It is practically put an end to all his hopes and wishes of being employed officially.
• "The Beggar's Opera" ,produced in London on Jan. 29, 1728, by the theatre manager John Rich at Lincoln’s Inn Fields Theatre, was the most successful Gay's opera. The success was of an innovation in many respects, and for a time it drove Italian opera off the English stage. The author was 43 years old, when the opera was performed and the worldwide success came to him.The action of the Opera consists of prose interspersed with songs.