How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
JENNY. I'd ask him straight to say what he thought he was
Then he'd lash out and knock me headlong down the stairs.
I had the bruises off and on for years. (2.5.105-107)
Besides the random, criminal violence we've been hearing about from Mac, he also commits violent act in his personal relationships. When he was living with Jenny he abused her horribly. The bruises were a permanent mark of his violence, almost like a brand marking her as his property.
Quote #8
JENNY. Once I was pregnant, so the doctor said.
MAC. So we reversed positions on the bed.
JENNY. He thought his weight would make it premature.
MAC. But in the end we flushed it down the sewer. (2.5.120-127)
When Jenny becomes pregnant, Mac's solution is to cause an abortion by squashing Jenny and the fetus. When that aggressive act doesn't work, they commit another violence against the newborn by flushing it down the sewer, killing their child. Mac's violence seems to know no bounds.
Quote #9
POLLY. Just a second. I only have to…I only have to tell him something…Really…it's very important.
MRS. PEACHUM. giving her a box on the ear. Well, this is important too. Get going!
POLLY. Oh, Mac! She is dragged away. (2.6.245-246)
Mac and Jenny aren't the only one with domestic violence issues. Mrs. Peachum, too, has no problem beating her grown daughter, Polly. "A box on the ear" is a slap, and the way Mrs. Peachum uses it to control Polly shows how commonplace violence is among the play's characters.