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Personal Life and Legacy
He never married. He was very close to his friends and patrons Alexander Pope, John Arbuthnot, and William Congreve. These friends always supported him through the highs and lows of life.
He earned good money from his writings during his lifetime. However, he made some misguided investments in South Sea Stock and lost most of his wealth. This shock affected his health and he became ill. -
Who is John Gay?
John Gay was born in 1685. He was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for The Beggar's Opera (1728), a ballad opera. -
John Gay's family and education
He was born into an ancient Devonshire family in England as the youngest son of William Gay and his wife. He was orphaned at an early age and was raised by his maternal uncle, the Reverend John Hanmer.
He received his primary education from his town’s free grammar school under Robert Luck who was a minor poet with some published works in English and Latin. -
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Bibliography
1708 — Wine
1711 — The Present State of Wit
1712 — The Mohocks
1713 — The Wife of Bath/ The Rural Sports
1714 — The Shepherd's Week
1715 — The What D'ye Call It
1716 — Trivia, or The Art of Walking the Streets of London
1717 — Three Hours After Marriage
1718 — Acis and Galatea
1720 — Poems on Several Occasions/ Dione
1724 — The Captives
1727 — Fables;
1728 — The Beggar's Opera
1729 — Polly
After death:
1733 — Achilles
1734 — The Distress'd Wife
1738 — Fables, Part the Second -
Career
After school he was apprenticed to a silk mercer in London. However he hated the job and came back home to his uncle in Barnstaple.
Gay had a deep love for literature and began his career as a poet and ballad-lyric writer. He had a quirky sense of humour and a talent for writing satirical and ironic pieces. His first published poem was a parody, ‘Wine’.
He worked as a steward in the household of the Duchess of Monmouth from 1712 to 1714 which left him with enough time to write. -
Death
He was given a home during his last years by one of his fans and patron - the Duke of Queensberry. He died in 1732 at the age of 47.
