Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

Macheath

He might be a little on the anti-hero side (okay, fine, all the way to turbo-villain), but Macheath still qualifies as the protagonist of The Threepenny Opera because he's the main character, the one whose fate hangs in the balance as the play plays out. And the idea that the hero would be totally nasty is a great Brechtian move. It makes the audience think about whom they're rooting for and why, and how that might apply to real-life society.