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Tiger Brown
A prostitute at a brothel in Wapping and a former lover of Macheath’s. Ginny Jenny seems to look back on her past with Macheath with a mixture of longing and revulsion—she was forced to let him pimp her out and often suffered brutal treatment at his hands when things got rough, but claims to have truly loved him and the bizarre life they shared for a time. Still, Jenny has no qualms about conspiring with Peachum to turn Macheath over to the authorities—like everyone else in the play, Jenny is a product of the society in which she lives, and will do whatever it takes to get by in a corrupt, capitalistic world. Jenny expresses herself primarily through song—in “The Song of Solomon,” she laments the ways in which men and women throughout history have tried to transcend their lots in life only to fail and suffer. In some productions, the Act 1 number “Pirate Jenny,” traditionally sung by Polly, is instead given to Jenny herself, providing even more insight into her quietly unhappy, vengeful, yet against all odds hopeful personalty.
Ginny Jenny Quotes in The Threepenny Opera
The The Threepenny Opera quotes below are all either spoken by Ginny Jenny or refer to Ginny Jenny. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
MRS. PEACHUM: Let me tell you this, Jenny: if all London were after him, Macheath is not the man to give up his old habits.
Now here’s a man who fights old Satan’s battle:
The butcher, he! All other men, mere cattle!
He is a shark with all the world to swim in!
What gets him down? What gets ‘em all down? Women.
He may not want to, but he’ll acquiesce
For such is sexual submissiveness.
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Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 1
Quotes
GINNY JENNY: You know the inquisitive Bertolt Brecht
His songs — you loved them so.
But when too oft he asked where from
The riches of the rich did come
You made him pack his bag and go.
Oh how inquisitive was Brecht!
But long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas!
Inquisitiveness had brought him to this pass:
A man is better off without.
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Act 3, Scene 3
Quotes
ALL: Combat injustice but in moderation:
Such things will freeze to death if left alone.
Remember: this whole vale of tribulation
Is black as pitch and cold as any stone.
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Explanation and Analysis:
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Ginny Jenny Quotes in The Threepenny Opera
The The Threepenny Opera quotes below are all either spoken by Ginny Jenny or refer to Ginny Jenny. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 2, Scene 1
Quotes
MRS. PEACHUM: Let me tell you this, Jenny: if all London were after him, Macheath is not the man to give up his old habits.
Now here’s a man who fights old Satan’s battle:
The butcher, he! All other men, mere cattle!
He is a shark with all the world to swim in!
What gets him down? What gets ‘em all down? Women.
He may not want to, but he’ll acquiesce
For such is sexual submissiveness.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 1
Quotes
GINNY JENNY: You know the inquisitive Bertolt Brecht
His songs — you loved them so.
But when too oft he asked where from
The riches of the rich did come
You made him pack his bag and go.
Oh how inquisitive was Brecht!
But long before the day was out
The consequence was clear, alas!
Inquisitiveness had brought him to this pass:
A man is better off without.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Act 3, Scene 3
Quotes
ALL: Combat injustice but in moderation:
Such things will freeze to death if left alone.
Remember: this whole vale of tribulation
Is black as pitch and cold as any stone.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
