.. • ,

advertisement
•
~ccordin~
:~s
ipter~
rcturl
to nertolt Pr0cht
J'ro"
so:~e
of' hi'"
..
,.
.
Jlme, 1°(, J
::1.1hr-lni vorsi t:~ t
T:ochuf: ' , ",'cst Gcn,:any
;~l~t,ior
·.:orl~:3
.
•
'any tlv,:,ks to t 1,c :~onors
o oplc for U,e il' pa tience
in tiiC C("'lpIction of this
,'roject; ~ i t 1 special mention to :'1'. (,,1'crt S. ,=,('rlrS,
and spec i :,1 !',ll:Ul:':'::::' to Dr.
':on;t1d
','~lr},J?r :for l"clp
,::.nd l:r1il1i ::iCD. toel Iorebo2.Tancc •
CONl'ENTS
TE.J.:ORY OF
r~;-{:2;
TIUH.'cN CONDITION according to Bertolt Brecht
as interpreted from some of his major llOrks
Introduction. • • • •
• • •
......
..•
• 1
• • • •
• ••••• 4
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • • • 9
Biographical Data • • • • •
Dramatic Theory • • • •
• • • • • • •
•
Brecht-M2.rx Relationship and Influence. • •
• • • • • • • • • • •• 16
Statement of Human Condition. • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Leben des Galilei • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
....
.21
• • • • • • • • • .22
Der gute }funsch von Sezuan. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .30
l1utter Courage und Ihre Kinder. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • .38
---Der kruikasische Kreidekreis • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Conclusion. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
.47
• • • • • • • .51
Bibliography• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 52
I N T ROD peT ION
Herr F. zog ~ie Stadt B. der Stadt A. vor.
"In der Stadt A.", sagte er, "liebt man
mich; aber in der Stadt B. war man zu mir
freundlich.
In der Stadt A. machte man
sicll mir niitzlich; aber in der Stadt B.
brauchte man mich.
In der Stadt A. bat man
mich an den Tisch; aber in der Stadt B. bat
1
man mich in die KUche."
Bertolt Brecht
mitment,
wa~
a man so obsessed by his com-
that his writings and personal life both exem-
rlify the paradoxical nature and extent of his engagement.
When undertaking to study Brecht, one is con-
fronted with propagandistic terminoloRY and dialectics
of the Marxian philosonhy to the degree that isolating
Brecht's personal ideology from his sycophantic loyalty
to the party's understandings brings one nigh to hysteria.
However,
i t is to be hoped that Brecht retained some
private identity of his own in tl1e midst o:f his confrontation with and defence of the ideology.
The purpose
of this study is not to elucidate the myth of one,
Bertolt Brecht, but to delve
moment~rilv
into the dilemma
presented by his theory and practice of one asnect-that of the human condition,
or involvement--in some
of' his major vorks.
1nrDcht, Bertolt, Versuche Heft ~':r. 12, "Geschichte
von T!errn YelJner", "7>"ei ::;t~idte", F'rankfurt a.".f.:
Sullrk:lnm Verl;- g, 1 f)'32 f'
1; ') .
r)
•
:: creet
~ . ~ll"
t
~
::.
:rOn an <:tttel""t lor objectivity, it is to he :lsnired
c la tllre,
like pToletarirt t
hOl·lever,
in
f'lOst
nrod bOl1r;re oi s ie, tl]ay be avoided;
cases, and for clarification, this is
sometir1es wholly inevi table.
And as the title of t'ds
paper is Brecht's theory of the human copdition as interpreted by this writer in some of his major works, and due
to the fact that Brecht's theory of the
hum~n
condition
was almost completely influenced by what Esslin calls
"Marxian humanism",J this terminology will be resorted to.
2 Es slin, jvrartin, Brecht:
The Nan and His 1vorks,
revised edition, New York:
Anchor Books, Doubleday
and Co., Inc., 1971, p. 279.
(Hereafter referred to as
Esslin) •
J Ibid • P.
235.
-
"-
Tn an attempt to intimate the influences and aims
of Brecht'
0"
l\Tri tinp,'s,
the l';arxist method of Ii terary
internretntion will he to a certnin extent employed,
i.e.
a biop,'rarhical sketch of the man and his experiences
follows;
so that the rearier, hopefully, receives an under-
standing of Brecht's situation.
Also as a means of
clarification, and due to the fact that the two are
inseparnble,
some attempt at clarification of Brecht's
theory of the tlleater is like"Tise sequel.
::~()l'mC:llljC
1 1CO'
1 <;'20 I s--','ivid cx:'cric 'ces O.'~
1.·C'\;0111·~·~~O=1, ~l'nd eC01~omic collu.r:sC.(lJ.
\~':;l',
of t
-'6)
',.eel: t'lC cuI cure of' tld~3 [::ythicc::.l ~':orld,
j:.czz its Elll:jic, the :::::ll\'Qtiun ",'lrn:y t:,8 n;ust
incri;:;l1in;; r:)lL:ion. ~P. C:<;
:Soxin;, \\r~·,.c;tlinc;,
l"c'cllt;~ l,cca:liC 1.;lle :C':"ii~l olle lrJrms OJ':' s I~rug~,le,
\\dlib'.":jr :::"110 ,,~llc
cl'c <:r--.Lli.l':'S, ~!\/ix'·:i!lic..l" t}:c cor'-
:~port
1
r'cct
') . . . ;2~1(.
·~~~_-:i~
-\:'~Tr~L5
("'.
OJ
CJ.(",·;tT'.
'~8T"·:11c.lrl-)
I
\;~'.
~:..::tCl'"
/R\
vl..,)
~_~i1:"'st
t:1C
~.Torl(1
~tr8.1--',
its
its blOeltcd :"1'-l i,;'lOr[ll';t !lUUV8elUX ricres,
stocJ~-C~::C11~-:"1~;:-_~'C {:.," ,;:bl:;r:~; :,,:-'d 1)1(-:c~:: l-:1:~I"'::.C'tcerSt
~.~~d
~~ll
',,,itl:
t'·~c
~-~r'o~t=~.tL~tiu-~'1
Friedrich Tlrec1·t tooi
grandmoth er as
a
~-~_}(:
·~·~(~·-~'l"~_·~C;;lt~O:l
pride in followine; tile
rebel
::t
<"ain st
the
bour,rr,eoisic--1'lllich brought about
t;'~_;t
lead of his
social order,
and
clels s--
the war.
his lfedical st'udics at trle University in r.i1nJich to serve
as a
medical orderl"
by the horrors
of the war,
1918 in Bavaria,
In 1 0 21
in the army.
in
ilrecht,
deepl~
disturbed
the revolution of ;-"covember,
sympathized with the
communists.
Brecht accepted the position of Dramaturg in
the Munich Kammerspiele,
but threw over this
job and moved
in 1924 to Berlin, which being an exam-rle of a den of iniquity of the times,
attracted and alJured him.
came to CellI himself loved being taken for a
BB as he
"dangerous
fellow"5 and delighted in affronting "polite society"
4 Ibid •
5 Ibid • p.
56.
- 5 "He wore waistcoats with cloth
with his anpearance:
sleeves, a leather tie, a mechanic's or lorry driver's
leather jacket and a dirty visored cap.
He ,,,as still
unshaven •••• His hair was combed forward in a fringe,
and
the steel-rimmed glasses ••• were the most prominent
feature of his facee"6
In Berlin, Brecht published his poems and plays and
took glee in every scandal his works caused amongst the
"bourgeoisie".
When in 1930 his lawsuit against Nero
Film for their version of his Dreigroschenoper was lost,
Brecht considered his point won, as the rights of the
author, and artist,
to veto variations on a work came to
the public's attention.
His "boundless ambition [was
J
to
have influence 1l7 as Esslin puts it, and Brecht, his colloborators and friends delighted in making his name and
theory of exneriment in the theater known.
However,
Brecht's influence was not so great, as due to his communist and anti-Nazi sympathies, he ,,,as forced to flee
Germany on Fehruary 28,
1933.
of his flight throngh I<::urope:
There follows the story
Austria, Switzerland,
Czechslovakia, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland,
and even lastly, America.
:?nssia,
Rrecht's plight was even more
severe than his German author compatriots as he needed
a
theater to try his theory and produce his plays--
in r}erman.
[iis only me- ns of livelihood was t1r\Varted
6 1bid • 1).56.
7Ibj~d.
~.1!_.
-
()
to him.
tenti r)l1
;~l1. C
or
.. 2St:
i'ree,
,<Ta~
1:' 111 e
C('r1'o-:;rci::tJ
btl t
to be 1'1lrply a
1CC S
(1
i eta t e c1
~
(:
0 ('
ir;ty. "C.'
T'er:-"on:1]
one,
I ,Co
clcc:LsioTI here
as 11is political in-
~;;a st.
the
::::ion of'i';rcclit rnflC'cted
the
Brcc1,i..;
the
raraclo"-;:ical sittle,cion of
individual al!ainst society.
dial,?ctic iP1T'OL't:l.TIce
two 'flays:
;'3
one could internret i t one of
eit'ler Drecflt '·.Tould
join the side of the
comp'2titive society wllich \JOuld result in the suppres3ion of hi3
individual eJ5..o and
cO)1sequentiaJ
destruc-
o
tion of his id by tl,e rressnres of the same society'
(Marxian inter~retation);
c1ividuality,
its masses
i.e.
~,
or,
he
could subject his
to the totalitarian society and
(non-Harxian inter',lretation).
p.
XVII.
in-
The question
- 7 becomes purely rhetorical when one considers that
Brecht's would-be influence in the non-Marxian West was
never tested and also further becomes rhetorical, depending
The fact that Brecht
unon the reader's personal view.
was not terribly favorably impressed with the East German
society remains:
He was appalJ-ed by wh~l t he found on his return
to Germany ~astJ:
the bureaucracy of the
authorities, the vulgar, petty bourgeois tastes
of the population, the horrible tastelessness
of the goods offered for sale--and eagerly
bought by the people •••• [Brecht'~ argument
QvasJ that people of a class that has just
come to power desire first an abundance of the
things they had seen in the homes of the class
they displaced •••• from these realities the
members of the ruling clique in East Germany
were mercifully isolated; they had no cOY<5act
with the peonle or with popular feeling.
On the other hand, what Brecht found and feared in West
Germany was also not altogether promising.
It is not the aim of this paper to explain Brecht's
decision to settle in East Germany, but one might consider that Brecht's measures to insure his own security
in East Germany such as his Austrian passport, his Swiss
bank
~.
ccount, and his Ivest-German publisher ',vere to com-
promi s e hi s freedom to eXT'erimen t
ported theater in East Germany.
Precht and his troupe, the
paTt:.c
in hi s
In March of' lC)5h,
r~"rlinpr
i<:nsemble,
functionaries in East r';prmanv as
ones in West
Ger~any.
:~i
th hi s
~)cll'ie
and hnJnor of' surrender to pressure
thE' utmos t
sta te-sup-
m-JD
l'lUC11
took IIp
as the e9rlier
1k1an phi 1 os ophy
(T.'!I·.~_ther
it threatened) with
drive be ing that of' survival th "o11;,,;h trl e cri s is,
10E'ss 1"In.
P.
-
n
(;
:,-2. turally
T,re c 11 t
ment.
nronu ce<l ',is "old" nlays a'l (1 can tinu~' II y
a' poyecl t'ne <lnthorities by
paganda
pl~y
lie re cei ved
hio:~
:failure to produce a pro-
on the problems of East Germany, but he ob-
sequiously acce·-ted all prizes and
t11e government.
~rants
offerred him hy
T'non rece i ving the Stalin }'eace Prize
in 1955 for his work
a~ainst
tlle re-militari7ation of Hest
Germany, Brecht, rather cautiously and perhans mockingly,
placed his 1,Jinnings in his Swiss banlz account.
BB died
Au~ust
East Berlin.
111,
1956 of a coronary thrombosis in
Brecht with his typical irony and humor
dictated his obituary as follows:
uncom:fortable person, and that I
my death."
11
"nihilist", a
"h'rite that I
was an
intend to remain so after
\,rhether e2rmarked as an "anarchist", a
"cynic",12 a
"sentimental romantic revolu-
tionary", or a would-be "teC'.cher and liberator of men", 1 J
Brecht remained an individual who fought against both
kin(is of society for the opTlortuni ty to make one voice and
opinion heard.
He remained a hUman being dedicated to
changing the human concH tion and roformine,- society, whether
:for the better or not is a personal decision of the reader,
and an' assessment of one inrlividual by another.
11 Ibid.
12:rbid.
X"\TII.
- 9 -
Because Brecht's theory of the theater is not to be
divorced from his works, it is necessary for the reader
to have some understanding of the Brechtian theory.
There follows a lengthy resume of the "enic" theater
which is drawn most heavily from 1--Iartin Es slin' s
and informatively written book, Brecht:
clearly
The Man and His
----~-------------------------
"Brecht's
f!eneral concept] of the theatre' ••.
[is]
a means of teaching and transforming society •••• The
object was not so much to preach the political slogans
of the moment as to query the rules under which men
livec.
It was no longer to shock, but to make men
think.,,14
Brecht's theater was therefore an experiment
in changing society.
into
THI~~ING,
His aim was to incite the spectators
not just about their personal situation,
but about the condition of society itself, how it was
wrong.
It has been pointed out by numerous critics that
Brecht's theater was negatively oriented as he only pointed
out the ills of society and then had no basis for reconstruction, no suggestions as to HOW society and the individual hum8n condition might be improved for the better.
In the event that the reader is totally unacquainted
with the effect of Brecht's "epic" theater, one might refer
to Erwin Piscator's form of the "epic" theater as the
basis for Brecht's idea:
14Esslin. p. 75.
10 -
He &iscator] put these spectacles on a constructivist stage and used graphs of statistics,
explanatory c~ptions, lantern slides of photographs or documents, newsreels, and document~ry
film sequences to convey the politicaJ or sociological background of the play, while the nropap:anda lesson 1vas dr;).wn hy choruses, spoken
or sunG, on sti'l,":e or in the auclitorium, so that
the. S~}"'-9gators ,,'ere inevi tably cira,vn into the
actlon.
ThereFore,
tile to tal ef'fect 01 Erecht' s
tllc;,ter 'was a
juxt:-,posi tion of varied n:edi:t to of'fcr snp' 'ort for the
plot ",11ich developed
t
J: nan a 1 ~r 7: in";
C'rO!ltcr:1 id.t'n. ternd
11 C
t~l('
~~,~
~'rork
t 1"." ate r
'·olo~~'
ci i'
l::i
in
Sl]C~~
0
1
:::.s
on sta,o;c.
n r e c 1J t, () n c i s con "epic"
t.: ':-:':tter, Ycr-
c tic': :-~ ,
0:'1"
In:act,
-, r> -: ~"
.......- -""--'~ ._',
(italics
:['01'
tl,e
critical
"s ,c:
2(.
1 6 J'1
. ~
,:n,u.
132.
p.
."
lin's ) •
a'1(1~,e''lce
1 5 Tbirl . : ,
1 - ',-"'-" /-
in :')recht' s
theater.
I'::'~'
t'lC<lt'~e, -;j,::3tc'in~: to Cl.. n <lCC01111t (1l0,·.'8vcr
-~:r. r-~:~{~·~tr::{) of t'~"_if:l'>;S tl~ctt 1-1:-1."'.:-e J;_~tp'-'e--'cc1
i'l t',-2 ,~\,.T' ,J.':~ C' (,(:)TtCl:', ' t~'{" i " <l cortilin 1'12C8.
-~~lC'-V
:JT"C\ tel
~::j_-:~
1-)~.(;-~-,
]"cla;-~,
a:_:(l r8flcct ()"
t-:le
lesso--'E: ~~() -he lc lro-18( --"r"c~r t110SP e-\rc:" .. ts c=f lo:,-)~:
o_r~o,
1 ~
c t~,,;c: ;J1~c~i_~~;lCC oL' t":10 1)0.T"ds ~(1-10 8QJ1~~ of
in
2.
I:Tivi-~J_
c<cP(~::;
t'-;e
or
~TG1.}CC
1-~'2r023
of
e::crls,
::'~XO,l
t8J~~-n
t1i:)
i~:
t1~c
,i':ile the
-!_~~}J~C
lr011SCS
'"llcstS
t;~p;,tr·c
••••
0:['
(i<~~e(;1·-:-_
<"'c"
"e--'ic 1f
8.te
,r;~1Le
~c~ill~~S
('1'0.,~1::.
t"'-ePl_t~e
t'l" ~'lr'I";"'-lco 1"'-';1; they" ax"'(:' ~-le~eJ~,.- '-~(;t'~i"-~'--' Cl report
o ~ ;~ (.~ ~ ~i~ J_ ~ ~r C J ~ t ~ '.' (r (; (it~lic5, n~lotcs O_~_l~; 1-·aT·011_t~:~.~;··8~~
i
R:~ec':t
Ono cJefj.'li til!
•
reYrrc-~
The \'Jri ter
Eeuner,
the Teader to the
St~:.cJten
Z'\'!ei
Brecht, his
co-"rorJeor,;,
anended
to:~t
the
word migll t
flected
irony',
t
1
o~
as (JUoted
the
",]lei
of' l1recht'
5
nr:;.eschichte von 1Cferrn
nan;e
1 of this Dn.per.
l'~nsemblo
co],laborated and
plays so that EACH
convey tll.e JD 'C\Cr me::lninc they fe 1 t
situation.
18
of Brecht'
5
Nany times dialectics,
1-\},T];
,;:VEHY
be st reor the
wri tinp:s may escape the reader by
his misunderstandinp of what Brecht meant to convey;
therefore,
plaYE
im~ortance
the
to obserye
dialectic:
of
S~~ING
tIle dramatic quality of the Hegelian
"For Brecht this ambiguity of all thin<:>:s,
the idea that
T1
0thin»; is really what i t seems,
It
Schl"'-'ikian"
1-1
ero is
consti-
poetry.,,1 9
tuted the essence of drama and
The
one of Brecht's
a
character "borrol-.red"
by Brecht from na~ek whose main char~l.cteristic is one
of servility.
he r':'nresonts c'. basic human attitude.
. 1
18 11
. J1C •
1 C)]'
.
. ,bld.
p.
173.
Sell'Jeil-: deFeats
13 the f'owers that be,
the whole lJniverse in all its absurdity,
not by opnosing but by complying with them.
servile,
He is so
so eager to please and to carry out the letter
of any regulation or command,
of' the authorities,
exposed."
20
that in the end the stupidity
the idiocy o:f the law are ruthlessly
Brecht prided himself on his own personal
Schi'!eikian tendencies in the face of opnosi tion \.,hich
he received from all quarters, even in the East.
Perhafls
his decision to settle in the East was a Schweikian one
in that his aim was a selfish one of that of survival of
himself and his kind of theater.
Irre~ardless,
Schweik
to Brecht's theater and his theory of the human
belon~s
condition if for no other reason thari that of the instinctual
one 01' survival.
As a pain t
behalf of t1cc
of'
:f1.lrth·~r
alrr;ady been
'1"1..'5
C115 sien an,' in'::11dry on the
ceader, it !'lay be
TkreC":Lt's other inf'luer1ces
Ac:
di:~
u~on
rc:ferr:::~d
interestin{~
to relate
his •..:rLtin,,:, besides
to,
TJrecht e l '0:38
hi~~
~·arx.
,\'ords
. :rrc st
• 'I
I /
£)
,"",
'i
/
!, \
, i
r~,
'-'
_!- L
L.1 -:
.
1
~
.L
t - ,C l~
'::;
-, i
1:; 1 c - - i . c •
t ';'
{n
\
r' •
20,., . ,
.!. OlC.l.
.j
I
•
1
,~
I
•
,-; c; ~
C'
~ r. "-'
::
ct· '"----::'.1 1 i t
\, .. t=--i
(r.ll~~;
j
lit y
() :~ t'-;
~'
'-:!
t
( .;
ro ( \ 1 '
i
f
j
",
"-,
\ !
f,
j
C
,',
\
"+'"
..
~T
L·ric,;
fiJ.,s
( ~,
\ :'
c~:'.. tre
.
his r'i:"pO"'<l.l,
bcen,
aC'1]8c<1
p'ind
to (;ct
m3.Y have
()r
tl~e
t'lagii1risf11 in nore
best
:fr()n~
his
o"'!n t,lent.1I
c~vider,t
he nanaced to introduce his
11recht
or he
"interpretations":
"his
ill all of his works;
o'\vn orir;inCllity into all of
ori n:inali ty conEO; isted of his
uncanny ability to absorb and assimilate
seemin~ly
incompatible e I erlen t s.
The fact remains
one
2J
"in.flnenced" by them a.t one time or ar-other,
but bis personal m"rk is
and
iusto,ncr),
one
"borro,·Ted" -.fror: s orr.e of the se sources,
rather '>1o.s
his
than
d.dic~ted
that Brecht's
the most diverse
,,24
"enic"
theater was
to socinl change and one of depicting the
p.
122.
p.
121 •
15
"study of human
object is no
relation to
i={ !~LATIONS.
(italics Esslin's)
lon;'T,er one ]luman beinr;,
society now stands at
There lore tIle imrortance
s',:ould be prepRrcd to
and
')s
,,"" -
reFlect on the
of the
rather "man's
26
the center." -
cri t
"thinl<: alone;"
~30ci:d_
The
ic~:
1 ;J.l1dience vb.o
',lith Dr0cht' s
ccndition.
T~is
was
,,'orl.:s
the aim
of tho the,'1ter of Ilrecht:
He tl1011,c~'h t that the "eri c" tl1 ea tre "hi ch
aimed at a-".'a'::'oning- the spe c t -. tor's cri tical
S',::cult:;', ~':hLcb co"cen-;~rated or 5110~'!ing
:T:ankind from the T'oint of Vi'~\'i of social
i'31il.tin"~;hip:,;,
'lOl}]' :"0;'\"e as ;tn in"trl1"le '1t
of 50ci'l chang'e, a l::cbor: tory 01 r,"volut~;~Ot~;-lj:-'~,,:-
t~F~
"0'
;)111 iG'ht:';)P-'PT1t:
ir."
I'.2E c:~ C 0
t1'ea~re
.1>' c ~~ :~ c.
7
-,-',c;
G
ill
t;:~;
()
t~:--:::,r
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r,
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t'-o
bc:L"p:
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OJ'll~ o r :
reono~"
consun1'1:e:"tj on.
he ec1ncntec1
J
e
ic t:lcatcr 81'1,"0-
'
,,'~,i
an, 1]'lumen'.:. ;),c t-l,on.
-
The tlestr;llJ::;ecl"
to bis em8J'ci 1 Jation,
and THIS Br(C)cllt
hoperi to nchieve in his revolutionary dramas
sciousness of the
self
3
p
d
or "n.licnateri"
for
COTI-
society.
p. 231 •
30Tuckcr,
Ne,,, York:
>~obt. C., e d ito r, _T_h_,_e__~_1....a_r;;;..;.x;;.r_-_]_~.;:n.;:;""n;1...e:;,..;;1;;,.s.;:r__:~__· e.;..;:a__d~e~r ,
1{.
Ii.
l\Jorton & Co.,
31F'romm.
p.
1 10.
Inc.,
1972. p. XIX.
-:';0
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is
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p.
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p.
37.
0
-JJPronr:l.
Jh I b i
I
(~.
1"1.
l~ fj
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-
20 -
undernines the id (instinct)
causing a ch"nge to occur
in the instinctual realm and structural center of drives,
so that the instincts themselves are altered;
(ide111~ity)
1. t
S
is skirted entirely,
the ego
thus no oPTlOrtunity for
. t s.'35
rea l 'lza t 'lon eX1S
Marx nroposed the solution for man's frustrated
drive for self-attainment in his social theories.
This
same perspective was adapted by Brecht in his aim for
sccial consciousness.
man;
Socialism is "the cure for modern
it is a society in which man becomes the conscious
subject of history, experiences himself as the subject
of hiR powers nnd thus emancipates himself from the bon.
t ances. ,,36
dage to thinffs and Clrcums
This process is
another definition of the famous Verfremdungseffekt.
The fact that the individual is currently psychologically exploited rath'r than purely physically exrloited was forseen by both Marx and Brecht; however,
society has so nerfected its means to reduce man to a
consuming slave, that it denies him a chance for consumme-tion.
The self-alienated man (i.e.
society) has not
attained the stage in his emancipation to overcome these
continuous threats to self-attainment.
was to be the cure for this problem,
Although socialism
the inhibition of
self-realization by society continues to plague alienated
man due to the imrerfections in the execution of the tMeory.
"Because the D,l iena ted person has trz--ns f'orr;1('d his OT,ITn
functions of feelinp and thought to an object outside he
is no't himself, 'le has
By al\Ta1cenin<; the
PI)
sense of 'I', of ic1 entity".')7
cri tical analysi s pOI'iers
1"rj
th j n an and ience,
Rrccrd; strove to offer "1:'n the c'.lClnce to realize 11is idepti ty.
L"O
',~,
(.
'~,~.,
'
- r'
'!'
:?
'"
1;....Pc:>
,.
~
~
1
C....
,
1'eop1ei'reodoP1,
h8.'~·
fCl"il~r,
inf)ss,
nolitics,
Il
l1: c;iness,
and rcli.';ion.
is
i'i d,
0
~ut
i t is
to be hared that the
patience to consider i t
05
an i.ntroductory
followin.'S' section concerns Rrc'cht'
on sone of his major works.
the above torics
Brecht.
re~der
5
enou~h
n~te~pt,
internl'et;ction
Tl18 c'Titer proposes
in each work as
the
<lS
bCised
to handle
they are er:1'phasized by
That is to sC'.y that every topic is not to be
found in eac11 wnrk.
Therefore,
those ideas which are ennun-
ciated in ench vork 'vill be discus,"ed,
other'l.rise are
t~eir
hns
and those ''''hich
to rle found will be summarized accorling to
importance as they were included by Brecht.
The plays used in the followinC; discussion are
to be T:!orks
of rrL1.jor imr10rtance 1'!ritten by Drecht.
considered
From the
perhaps erroneOc1S premise tho.t ;n(ljor works rr.d'l·;ct a
ized 'Jie,,," of the Cl;lL:.or concerning a
theme,
",'eneral-
tllese ;':or];:s
,fnre slJlccted <lnd NOT selected for their COi'!.lcic;ental
s-:;eci:ficit:y vith rc?,pect to t'1e human corditicn.
22
Lebe~
des Galilei
1938/9
ivritten:
SU~·l~IARY
:
(scientific) inqu~ry.
t
~-
GnliJel
i~
threatrnpd by the tnqui-
r-,
- -,-
I
- i . ; "
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~-;
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........ 11
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y L
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f}
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•
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'.
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,
(,
~-..., -
t
;.OT
O·p
ity.
0':i:,te;:C0
and
t;']·:in:;- p;:}rt in
controllin'~
lli~)
"orson,,:,l destiny,
t'1ercf'or(: socict:.r's also--the institution ot' society is
t:hrea tened by the i nd i vic1u ': l ' s f're'?dom of thought.
die a 1 t e
7, e
i t i s he ru m,
n ie hezweife 1 t
11 n
e sis t
rl
"Denn
e in e n e u e Z e i t •••• lva s
wurde, das ,·:ird j e tzt bez'.veifel t. ,,39
" [Galilei 'sJ most po~verful ins tinct is curiosity •.
His greatest sensual pleasure is the pleasure of discovery ••••
The urge for knowledge
t
the most rational sirJe of human
ende:lvor, science itself, is shown as merely another of
man's basic, instinctive urges,
just as deeply rooted in
the irrational as the instinct for procreation.,,40
Galile~ls
personal
t~sk
simultaneously satisfied
served
human~ty
b€~f,'reift,
as a
was that of enlightenment; i t
liberat~ng
dr~ves
force.
and likewise
"Dazu, daB man es
arbei te ich und kaufe die teuern Bncher, sta tt
den Hilchmann zu bezahlen."
time
personal
h~s
lim~tations
l~ 1
Therefore when thwarted by
due to obligations at the university,
Galilei rebels against the
to pursue self-attainment:
exploitat~on
of his freedom
"Herr, ich habe zu viele!
f!'rivatschUler] lch lehre und lehre, und wann solI ich
lernen?
•• Wann solI ich forschen?
'39
- Brecht, Bertolt, Leben des
Franld'urt a. !1'1.:
Suhrkamp Verlag,
hOE SS 1·I n . p.
l~
1
Herr, meine Wissen-
13. Aufgabe,
1972, pp. 8-9.
Galile~,
s
'
",,42
ist noch \\11'Db eg1er1g',
ch~tft
thi~3
,ilJstifi;-l"l")le c-mvL:tint of Galilei is llis natural an";er
at financial
')~-
A Br'''crtian addition to
eXTl1oitatiOll as ";e11, which is also imposed
the instituticn 0:[' t'le univer~"ity
(i.e.
strlte of l'ac1 ua)
to
I:
),
."'.I-ll
" (~ j (~
,
1,
i) ."
.--;
tl
)'_
~",.
• L·
,-
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o-"C(~
,-
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•
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.F".,
·~i'-'
r"
"I'" (':
ro:.:-cc of t ' ,c trvtl1
and
::-C<lS
on over
~\-crc
th C
confident in tl'e vj
'·'o'.:(~r
ctor~-
l~pils
01
of trutll.
of tho ohurch:
lJnd mit ("rCI~3.1t l~2..nn Di:l.n nicllt un,',,:esehen machen,
":as ;,~esehen ,~'Urrle •••• Also:
e,s ,c;eht nicht mit
Gewalt!
Sie kann nicht alles!
Also:
die Torheit wird besie~t, sic ist nicht unverlctzlicb!
~\lso:
der ]\teensch fiirchtet den Tod nicht!
Jetzt
beginnt wirklich die Zeit des Wissens.
Das ist
ihre Geburtsstunde •••• Aber es ist alles verandert
heute!
Der Mensch hebt den Kopf, der Gepeinigte,
und sagt:
ich kann leben.
So viel iS~6gewonnen,
'Kenn nur einer aufsteht und Nein Sqgt!
The victory seems assured and the battle for human rights
is free to realize its course in destiny--BUT Galilei
renounces!
findings.
Galilei,
the Schwcikian hero, retracts his
Galilei's only defence offered is that the time
was not yet ripe for the victory of reason over the institution:
"Ungliicklich das Lc:nd, das HeIden notig hat ••• ,,47
All appears to have been in vain--man's fight for selfattainment, until at the end a nelO[ ethic is suggested which
pleads for patience in the ensuing battle:
die 1ifahrhei t.
Vor dem Feind.
"Sie versteckten
Auch auf dem Felde der Ethik
waren Sie [9-"lilei) uns mm Jahrhunderte voraus •••• l\fit dem
Mann auf der StraDe sagten wir:
1~6Ibid • p.
111-2.
1t-7Ibid. p.
11
h•
Er wird sterben, aber er
- 26
wird nie widerrufen.--Sie kamen zurilck:
Ich habe wider-
rufen, aber ich werde leben.--Ihre
sind befleckt,
sagten wir.--Sie sagen:
ThE~
H~nde
Hesser befleckt als leer."
48
question of God is brought into focus ,,,i th Galilei 1.s
appalling probf that the enrth and man are not the centers
of the universe, God's creation.
The revolutionary idea
that God, a Being, was not to be found amongst the heavenly
bodies was stupeiiYJP;,
and humanity titillated in expectation
of the next promised answer.
Galilei's reply that God
was to be found in man, or neverT'HIn uns oder nirgends!u 49 __
reflects the Marxian-Brecht viewpoint concerning religion:
R~LIGIOUS distress is at the same time the
EXPRESSION of real distress and the PROTEST
against real distress.
Religion is the sigh
of the oppressed creature, the heart of a
heartless world, just as it is the spirit of
an uns 1,iri tual situation.
It is the OPIUN
of tbe people.
The abolition of religion as
the ILLUSORY hapniness of the peo~le is required for their HEAL hapniness •••• Heligion
is only the illusory seen, which revolves
around man as lon~ as he does not re~8lve
around himself. ~cf. alienated manJ
(italic's Fromm's)
The most elucidating quotation regarding the control
of the church over man, the consequential alienating effect,
and the plight of common man in his search for expression
of the self follows in length as Brecht expressed it in
Galilei:
Erlauben Sie, daD ich von mir rede.
Ich bin
als Sohn von Bauern in der Campagna aufge,vachsen.
Es sind einfache Leute.
Sie wissen alles tiber
den blbaum, aber sonst recht wenig.
Die Phasen
der Venus beobachtencl, kann ich nun meine Eltern
vor mir ~ehen, wie sie mit meiner Schwester am
Herd sitzen und ihre Kasespeise essen.
Ich sehe
die Balken iiber ihnen, die der Hauch von Jahrhunderten
48
Ibid. p.
49 Ibid •
1~)
2.
p. 33.
27
ffesehw~rzt
hat, und ieh sehe ~enau ihre alten abgearbeiteten Hii.nde und clen ':leinen 1.,o:[-re1 darin.
>;5 G'eht iIlnen nieht gut, ab~r selbst in ihrem Unglijek lieco:t cine ge~visse Ordnung ve.c~borgen.
Da
~;ind diese v,~r:'3ehieclenen Kreisl~;l1:fe, VOl1 dem des
Bodenanf,,':i_:-;c1~ens i'ber den der Jahr0szeiten im
(.lfelc1 7--:1.1 del'] cler -_'teuC)rZal11unF;.:'~S ist 2~e(:-el-
C~'-iJj
ei~~}n18.1,
~lit
011(;;)1";'1
~.. ,7ie
'~'cl-~1:,',
so
~:1C:j.
:"!~-;::}~
,"):eE;c~11cc1~tslos'2::~
.jC;C~8r;'
:~~""i!~l.i'
'~\·.::b'~l~rt~n
die
·0·'-12.C~l.t
~L!l
l;~eld
"~lciI~C
-'.~t~~~~:r'
-,,_
'-lie
l~--J-)c~--
~L":
·"-;.n~
:1.C
':"0
.
( . ,r:)
"
• • -:
1.
' , -'0 !-'
,
..,
()11
,-,
P
;
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r.
-,
..
,
, .,
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j;
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-
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+
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1-::" 1 ~-'
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'111'
I r; :ft . Y'(l he
"T'
i s -l.-: ("' 1) (} ~-~ ",
trc- :-~"'--: '--;' i
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cllt'·e.~;csse:·~~l2_1)"Y:,
~,
t
c 1:: <: r~
(~.'
i c ~ ~~) f ~ c' .~. C
"J
" ,
.
-,
(! ('~ lIeili(-:-en l, ot--: 'T~r,;Cl t ion
cdlc S
r~iite
1'1i; t t crlieh
hera'.lslese?
Sl
'-itleic2,
51 '.Ja
<, 1· J
.
1._e1.
pp. 75-6.
ei 1.'l,)
daf'.
cin
{-;roDe Soelen-
28 ~alilei's
reply to this deliv2ry is equally as
ing in that he
challep~es
enli~hten-
the individual to cast off the
socio-mertal bonds of supp"ession anrl rise to a nevI
state of exiRtence and freedom of action:
"Zum Teufel,
ich sehe die gBttliche Geduld Ihrer Leute, aber wo ist
ihr gottlicher Zorn?".5?to
reli~ion
will
This question of man's relation
be discussed once again in the section
dealing Hith tIle :"crk
~<utter
Courage, but tbe
tTle reader to stor 'l'Or'lci1tarily and consider the
One furth: r
asks
~'Jriter
~ro,,:r2SS
("est;,oll evolved fran: ''';::l'ilci is a pot-
•... 1 -, 1'1 ' ~J
,.-!---'"
~_
c)r
:~ C
l:rto
-e.'
G
l'
l
-~
1
-j .--'
Zl
:
'.' (,,"
~
,
'C
,;
';..-,
" i
~1_
cs
.I
,'~
::r":
1
-
-"
f~
. , -,...,
,-~
-.L
,
.-:" cc
-~ t=::-~
'''i 1
--=- .:.--<-'"1-'
:[-:>,1
." . _
~
-
(" 1_,
.c;;,:t1y;::~tion
.
~
(
"
,
:for alJ. is tc· re;nain "G'ood"--irl the
of all op ositjon.
phila~:-
Due to the :"!,'reat amount of' niE<orY
in tl'e '!orld b2sed on ITI<::ln's indifference for his fell
bein~,
Shen Te
under~oes
a
m~r
scbizophrenic transfiguration
in attemrting to fulfill her obligations to the "gods".
Humanity exploits her unique goodness to the extreme that
Shen Te must maintain her Shui Ta personality, or perish.
"In order to realize his goodness man must renounce his
His traRedy is that he can never effectively
goodness.
be "'hat he naturally is. ,,55
In the
stru~gle
to remain
"good" at both the rersonal level and for mankind's sake,
Shen Te fails as she,
too, must renounce her goodness in
the Schweikian self-preservation conflict.
Is happiness obtainable, or are we all obligated
to serve humanity at the
ex~ense
of personal happiness?
Shen Te namely sacrificed her haTTiness,
in fact her
54Geissler, Rolf, editor, Zur Interpretation des
Brecht, Diirrenmatt, Frisch, 2. Aufla(','e,
modcrnen Dramas.
rToritz Diester-\Vel~ Verlag, 1960, p. 48.
Frankfurt a. M.:
55sokel, 1'ial ter II., "Brecht' s Split Char.?ccter and llis
;:::ens'3 of the Tragic" from Brecht.
A Collection of Critical
Essavs edited ~y Peter ~emetz, ~cw Jersey:
Prentice-Eall,
-:;:-----'--- ... r, C
"r\
.r"'I
1
31
m8.rria-;e out of' social consciousness.
o ~. G . , i
1- • ,
t.·".~c
C ~~
J
c18s:-'f?J5
:c. t ::,.; c u.L .
.~ 0 ,
" l.i
:--:;
•
()
(
'\
"
1
c'
'-
,(.
'"
. 1
,
,
c
(,1
r··-'
.1 t
"it
C
]
... 1
)
-
-~
. ,... ~. '
-,
"
I~,
'--}
-
~2
urn Ihren L;Lclen k:;mT"er ••••
l\,l~c.;("'
alles hin!
T(ein Hann, 1,:ein
Tabak, 1<eine Bleir)e!
sein will als unscreins.
ThE' Barber,
~hu
c' .
• t
,;ovon "1o""en ,,],e
Je
P
]
~JRnG'
1 eb
en.?" 58
until he one day brpaks
':'iane-'s hand 1.vitl1 the curlin,,": iron.
measure~3
+
Zv
Fu, exhibits his villainous cl1aracter
in bullyinr,- and manhancl1in,';
ac1vise ';iang to
]
'l'he common people
Shu Fu, bllt they all, fearing vindictive
sUP
of the B"rber, refuse to -!;estify in l,r ang" s behalf:
"Ich will nichts mit der Pol j zei zu tun haben •••• Sie h''lben
nur Furcht, wei1 der fbrbier zu machtig ist.,,59
TzU's
l~scivious
Frau Ni
depravity is also displayed in her in-
sistence for having Sun as an "administrCltor" of her concerns in exchange for a housinF, contract for Shui Ta's
new tob;LCco factory;
the
wo~{inG
conditions of the folk are
not important to her, only her selfish desire to "have her
fat knee tickled,,60 by young Sun need gratification.
The people found on earth by the visiting "gods" are
not the most humane, but are very human in their predicament of trying to rise above the situation, i.e. become
"good"" and therefore li bera te themsel ve s from the ir inhuman oxistence.
Through the inhuman exploitation of
Shen Te's goodness by the masses, Brecht offers proof that
the common man is not morally good, or perhaps he has been
subjected to this deffenerative
~rocess
imposed by society
5'3'Brecht, Bertolt, Der gute Mensch von Sezuan, 13.
Aurlage, Fr,'1nkfurt a.M.:
59 Ibid • p. 60.
Suhrkamp Verlag,
1970, p. 96.
- 33
and is therefore not good;
in any event, the need for
social consciousness is stressed in Shen Te's seemingly
impossible task of liberating humanity throuGh charitable
The peoT'le of' Se7:uan have the opnortuni ty to
actions.
become Rood should they develop the necessary resllonsibility to one another for social advancement.
The state of' being hapDY is simplified in Mensch to
that of happiness in love,
in luck in pursuit of business,
and in harmony with fellow man.
The good deeds of Shen Te
begnTl wi th distribution of rice a'rong the hungry and
givin~
shelter to a family of nine in her tobacco shop,
w"hich she r)urchaser1 with tl'e money ,',:,ivan her by the r:oc1s.
~ith
the times,
however,
11ad to be sto"7)ed
Ct.'
Shen Te's
sl~e
well-meanin~
had no fin::cncial
,'" 1 - , :
I 1
mca:1S
efforts
to meet
~
-~_
,
, .'~
,
C":
'i_
c
-::L
1,
,~.
1 '
,-'-
"
L
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,~
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0
t'"
~t~r
in
Sho~
r8.ce is en 011.,,;1: T)rObT th.L:l t
,"OT tc be destroyed,
ha:"pin'?s s
in beinE;
11
in::-3",~eacl
gooe]
(.,
-"'Ibid.
pp.
66-7.
6:3 Ib le.
, 1
D. ~J
!
•
II
r81~
CC~~CJ.cnC0
to direct
nlanltip.d in gcrleral Ilecd
,~ivcn
the
cl1ance to
seek
"r:'
J-:J
-
The
",<::00011
"gods"
es s"
"coodll
charge "fang with
of Shen Te,
to others,
-';Jird. ,,64
pour
TE~
as her happiness
lanc~o;ut
sein,
':Jenn nicht Giite verlangt
Trouble arises when (]emands for
in from all quarters.
radi~ting
dencies
enough to
evil deeds;
':"'Terd8 ich st"rk:.
se:u1.,
ell
""';81.'0
65
=~_
S
(. \-C
1
in ihm an.zurufen?
scb,..:eb,:-. icl: z';rischen
tru t"
:>:,p:'Clrd i n
r
~
,
10'" (~:;
,.,," I
'-
.
t
_..J_"
".
to doubts
influence Sun:
Upon dis c overi " r; th e
....
(
woddin~
J.l t ,
.-, -: -, ~,'
, ,,'-
II
JoyOUS due
d:cs Gute
Jetzt auf dem Iveg zur T'ochzeit,
"bad".
conquer Sun's ten-
of ":csoodress" may not
(,:',"nu:~
..~Iurctl
~
' t uno.i.'
''"' rePJc.
'
that Sun may be
on the evening of her
to allow herself to be
that her o"rn nO,vers
"goodness"
Even in her love must Shen
due to the doti')t
love is not
tOW~lrds
she fears
3.1-1
1 les
.
...
in beine;
"Bezeig dl.1 Interesse an ihrer Giite,
chJ:!ck hanniness
Her
tas:c of' delTland ing
and only throuGh being "good" may she
obtain happiness:
denn keiner kann
tlle
'n
1
/-
-~
1
I
•
;,
6
c
,',
!-
',. c
!i
c
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7
'I
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.
u
,
,
,
.
l
1
- 38 Mutter Courage und Ihre Kinder
~'lri tten
1958/59
SUMHAllY:
Norality, one of Brecht's favorite subjects, results in this
drama from the social upheaval war:
~'Tith
IIKrieg bringt Moral mit sich. 11 71
her "ragon loaded Hith goods, the shrevrd, hardheaded business-
.roman, Hutter Courage, blackmarketcers a course through the Thirty
~,'lar.
Years
As there is no place for virtues in the new morality, her
three ehildren guilty of possessing virtues like bravery, honesty,
and unselfishness fall victims of the conflict, while she herself
transacts business.
Not
co~mitting
herself to show allegiance, Mutter
Courage indiscriminately bargains with soldiers from both sides follovr.lng
whichever army is momentarily in the best nosi tion to pay.
Her mercan-
tile nreoccupation is revealed in the sixth scene as she rather unfeelingly dismiS3es the death of the field commander while taking inventory of
her stock--the parallelism of the scene is a superb example of the
Brechtian irony.
An even more brutal example of her commercial obsession
is brcught into sharp focus in the senseless sacrifice of her second
son, Schweizerkas, while Courage dickers with haggling soldiers and a
:9rostitute attempting to gain the most edge end emerge with both the
spoile: and her son.
When the older son, Eilif, is abducted into the
army, she is nrotecting her interests; and when Kattrin, the last of
her children is murdered, she is "in tm-m getting her cut. 1I72
In a
Schvreikian perpetration of ,.;ar (i.e. social evils) Mutter Courage
~'1
, Geissler, p. 36.
'/2
Brecht, Bertolt, Mutter Courage und Ihre Kinder, edited by V.
Sander, Ne., York: Oxford Univ. Press, 1964, p. 117.
I
- 39 becomes t:1e murderer of her own family due to her inhumani tJlj yet emerges
from t.he conflict Hi th her most prized possession--the vTagon--intact.
::lith her business acumen ever sharper, she enters once again into infinite
undertakings of profit, accomplice to the very code of life >vhich cost
her the lives of her children.
She too realistically SilrugS off grief
and drags her ••agon after the vestiges of the army--a very tragic figure
due to her inabili t:.r and unwillingness to extricate herself (earlier the
family also) from the web of circumstances (i.e. inhuman existence)
vyl1ich simultaneously cost them all their lives a,'1d estrange them from
one another along ..Iith the rest of humanity.
1'he human condition represented in this nla:r is that in the rather
s'jecial situation of war--defined in Brechtian terminology as an
alienated socia ty' s search for equilibrium.
The morality at ti1e base
of as well as the morality resulting from the conflict emerge as
equally mendacious methods of relating to one another; therefore, the
mother-child constellations are perverted into confrontations betvTeen
t:'1e businesswoman Hutter Courage and her children.
The religious
element in this drama is represented as everything political and foul
which correlates to the Harxian-Brecht religious tradition of the
alienated
1:'l.all.
The nerilous blend of religion, business, and morals
reflec:ts Brecht 1 s
interpretation of capitalism, t-Thich further influences
his interpretation of Darental and filial discourse in a capitalistic
society.
Therefore, in the highly specialized not very objective state
in the drama, Brecht comments on three elements of the human condition,
ngmel::: religion, family, and business.
1\.8 there is no illusion or
pretense of hapc:,iness or freedom in this play, tbese elements of the
human exnerience must be discarded as incapable of existing in such a
circurwtance--or alienated out of existence.
- 40 Religion in Mutter Courage represents a p01-Jer which exploits and
threatens man's very existence.
The forces at work in this drama in
no way personify Christianity or known humane doctrines.
Brecht chose
the Th:Lrty Years 'liar for the backgr01md to parody the more popular forms
of religion as practiced in the "rorld in his times.
He considered reli-
gion more than superfluous, in fact it served as an alienating force
(see page 26 of this paper for Fromm's explanation of the l'1arxianBrecht inter-pretation).
The religious forces in Mutter Courage" axe,_gUilj,y
of supporting a society of war-mongers and T'rofi teers like lvfutter
Courage herself 1-Tho take advantage of the "common people If , 11ho are also
at the mercy of the 1)riests, bishops, and IIGod":
Die armen Leut brauchen Courage. 1varum sie sind verloren.
Schon daB sie aufstehn in der Frflh, dazu gehdrt 'VJaS in
lirer Lag. Oder daB sie Kinder in die Welt setzen, zeigt,
daB sie Courage haben, denn sie haben keine Aussicht ••••
~venn sie einander da ins Gesicht schaun Holln, das braucht
Hohl Courage. DaB sie einen Kaiser und einen Papst dulden,
das beweis eine unheimliche Courage, denn die kosten ihnen
das Leben.
73
£teligion, the supposed saving force of man, threatens his very existence
and causes him to be subservient to and mistrustful of the next man;
therefore, IIGod ll also.
Hutter Courage echoes this thought when trapped
near the Catholic forces ,d th a Protestant cle rgy and cashbox from the
Protestant trooDs:
F'eldprediger: 'Hir sind eben jetzt in Gottes Hand.
Courage: rch glaub nicht, daB wir schon so v loren
sind, aber schlafen tu ich doch nicht nachts.
7t
'Ihe curious blend of relj,gion, morals and bUsiness
'VTaS
once alluded
to; hew'ever, in this drama one finds many powerful examples of the fatal
m:ix~ure.
Due to man's utter subjection to militaristic forces (i.e.
religion), he has learned as lfutter Courage, that he as an individual
has nc control Hhatsoever over his fate and actions.
1'3 Ibid • p. 76.
I' hIbid _
n _ h2_
Indeed it is not
- 41 only the Lessing question of nKein Hensch muB mt1ssen ll , ra·ther seasons
and HGai:,her forces in the control of IlGod" do not seem to be controlled
or predestined in the turmoil:
Es ist jetzt Oktober, und da kanns leicht Herbst werden,
ich sag ausdrttcklich nicht muB, denn ich hab gelernt,
ni::c }~7~0:mmen, 'Ide man denkt, nicht einmal die Jahreszeiten.
(italics mine)
The most fatal bloN at man's supremecy over the animal kingdom and his
personal individuality is dealt
the above passage.
trust his thoughts.
}~
\~""ith
Brecht's choice of vocabulary in
is no longer responsible enough to think or
The corrupt society is exemplified time after time
by the character of Hutter Courage, but being a realist, she knovlS how
to
"~.;ork
around" society to obtain her ends.
The crass inhuman nature
of Nutter Coura.ge is revealed in her bargaining -v-Iith the life of Schweizerkas.
PerhaDs the metaphor that mankind is as bribable as !!Godll is merci-
ful is more due to Brecht's
gene~al
interpretation of the Protestant Ethic
than his denunciation of capi talism:
Gott sei Dank sind sie bestechlich. Sie sind doch keine
sondern ¥.enschen und auf Geld aus. Die Bestechlichkeit ist bei die Menschen dasselbe lde beim lieben Gott
die Barmh gzigkeit. Bestechlichkeit ist unsre einzige
Aussicht.
~mlf,
7
The chaplain 'l-Iith his IIgod-givenll gift of
11
gab II , Hno is capable
of hyp::lotising men by causing them to lose their senses to sacrifice
their lives before the enel;t;{, is humanly horrified at the thought of l"ar
and profiteering, but he truthfully admits as do the soldiers in scene
one that n"'Tar" is necessary to establish order.
In the chaplain IS
"Praise of 1;Jar ll monologue, the reader may inter'1ret Brecht's fear of
battle which culminates in the Galilean-like subjection of peace and
hanpiIJ.ess to the demands of conflict and continuing of ..Tar:
t5 Ibid •
p.
30.
76 Ibid • p.
54.
- L~2 lch saf,: daB der Krieg einrnal aui11.6rt, ist nicht gesagt. i~s kann natl1rlich zu einer kleinen Pause kOllunen.
Der Krieg kann sich vcrsclmaufen mttssen, ja, er kann
sogar sozusagen verungl11cken. Davor ist er nicht gesiehert, es gibt ja nix VollkoIlt11.enes allhier auf Erden.
Einen vollkonnnenen Krieg, 1':0 man sagen k6nnt: an dem
ist nix mehr auszusetzen, wirds vielleicht nie geben.
PHltzlich kann er ins Stocken kormnen, an lIas Unvorhergesetenem, an alles kann kein Mensch denken. Vielleicht
ein Ubersehn, und das Schlamassal ist cia. Und dann kann
man den Krieg .deder aus dem Dreck ziehn! Fber die
Kaiser und Ktlnige und der Papst 'Hird ihrnzu Hilf kommen
in seiner Not. So hat, er im ganzen nix Ernstliches' zu
ftt~chten, und ein langes Leben liegt vor ihrn •••• lch
m6c::ht sagen, den Frieden gibts im Krieg auch, er hat
se:ine friedlichen Stelln. Der Krieg befriedigt nAmlich
alle Bed1irfnis, auch die fr:ie dlichen darllnter, daf11r
ist gesorgt, sonst ~cht er sich nicht halten k6nnen.
1m Krieg kannst du auch kacken 'Hie im tiefsten Frieden,
und zmschen dem einen Gefecht und dem andern gibts ein
Bier, und sogar auf dem Vormarsch kannst du einln Nicker
machen, aufn Ellbogen, das ist imIner m6glich, im straBengraben. Beim St11rmen kannst du nicht Karten s~ieln, das
kar,nst du beirn 1~cker'ofl11gen im tiefsten Fr:ie den auch nicht,
aber nach dem Sieg gibts 116glichkeiten. Dir mag ein Bein
abgeschossen 'iJerden, da erhebst du zuerst ein groBes Geschrei, als .v!irs .ras, aber dann beruhigst du elich odeI'
kriegst Schnaps, und am End hl1pfst du llieder herUi'll, und
der Krieg ist nicht schlechter dran als vorher. Und Has
hindert elich, daB du di.ch vermehrst inmitten all dem Gemetzel, hinter Giner Sch.eun oder 'Noanders, davon bist
du nie auf die Dauer ab,zuhal tm, und dann hat der Krieg
dE~ine CseineJ S~')r6Blinge und kann mit ihnen lJeiterkommen.
Nein, der Krieg findet imrner ,+nen Ausweg, 1·ms nicht gar.
"i larui'll soll er aufh6rn mtissen?
Religion, vTar, and morality provide all the order and sustenance necessary to maintaill life--the question Brecht nosed uas >-That kind of existence though?
Kattrin, like her mother, does not share the misplaced faith of
tr,e co:mnon people in rlGod ll , rather she , existentially, takes matters
into her
01-m
hands--exhibi ts virtue , morality (call it what one may)--
and must perish for her
HD1t~Jl
independence.
The prayer of the farm
people once again reflects the w2akness of the 1l1ittle or connnonll people
and their inability to act
77 Ibid• pp. 73-5.
inde--~endently
"Ti thin the religious conflict:
- 43 V2.ter unser, del' du bist im Himmel, hl!jr unser Gebet,
laE die Stadt nicht umkor."Jl1en mit alle, 1070 drinnen sind
und. schlummern und almen nix. 1!.'rHeck sie, daB sie aufstehn und gehn auf die Hauern und sehn, 'Hie sie auf sie
korrmen mit SpieBen und Kanonen in del' Nacht tlber die
1iJie sen, hertmter vorn Hang •••• Vater uns er, h6r uns, denn
nul' du kannst helfen, wir m~chten zugrund gehn, warmn
1,Tir sind schv/ach und haben keine SpieB und nix und
kBrmen uns nix traun und sind in deiner Hand mit unserm
Viah und dem ganzen Aof, und so auch die Stadt, sie ist
auch in dei:i..ner Hand, und del' Feind ist VOl' den Hauern
mi"j groBer Uacht. Gedenk del' Kinder, wo bedroht sind,
de::- allerkleinsten besonders, Greise, 1'10 sich nicht
rtihren k~nnen, und aller Kreatur. Und vergib uns
unsre78chuld, 'Hie auch 'Hir vergeben unsern Schuldigern.
Amen.
As if the ul tiInate control practiced over all by the Har is not
sufficient, }fu.tter Courage implies that
lTar,
symbolizing religion in
this instance once again, exerts its power over man until his death
10IDere it then abandons him for the living; therefore, making religion1s
concern for man in the I1this 11 life rather than the after:
Del'
Der
Del'
Das
Del'
Und
Das
Krieg, er zieht sich et'tms hin.
Krieg, er dauert hundert Jahre
g I meine Mann hat ke:in Gewinn ••••
Fr11hjahr kommt! \vach auf, du Christ!
Schnee schmilzt 1-reg! Die Toten ruhn!
"Has noch.nicht gestorben ist 79
macht sich auf die Socken mUl.
111 the introduction to the !1lay, Volkmar Sander interprets the
Brechtian idea of the ammorality of religion 1-mich alienates man from
himse~f
and forces him to lead a sinful, meaningless life:
moral remains the same:
liThe basic
that in the exist:ing social situation man can
survive only by committing misdeeds. 1I80
Tucker in the :tJI".a.rx-.Sngels Reader adroitly explains the MarxianBrecht relationship betvJeen religion and business:
liThe spirit was not
alienated from man, rather man vms alienated from himself in a material
"Horld. II
01
}~utter
Courage is drmm to be the persomi...fication of
~,o
'C Ibid •
pp. 109-10.
79 Ibid • p. 119.
BO Ibid • p. xv.
- 44 mercantj.lism, and her exoeriences reflect the fatality in such a blend.
In 'Jrdel' to dis:pel any doubts about the motherly nature of 11utter Courage,
one need only consider her 'Hagon as an example of cll s..'r).e values in the
Hor Id
' rememb er
1-.
~;.OH
allU
:rtequisi~j,
der '.iagen, beherrscht das ganze stl1ck--er rollt, ist instabil
~Jelt
,·rie die
1
. t aln
. posseSSlon:
.
sGe
s -'-vru:~g 1 es to
A llaln
der Courage, er drtickt aus, woran die Courage sich klammert,
den :Iandel. ,,82
um durchzukommen:
Brecht meant to point out the latent
danger :in superimposing commerical over imman values, so he l-1rote Nutter
Courage continuallJ in a <losi tion of bUsiness undertakings 'fThen her
chi+dren Here caused to be killed.
"AS if these examples >Tere unclear,
rel~gious-political
Brecht includes a
interpretation of business and how
everyone is eager to share in the profits:
B€siegt v,~)rden kann er lJ;vredish kini] nicht, vlaruID seine
Leut gJa. uben an ihn. ~Jenn man die GroBkopfigen reden
M~rt, fdhrens die Krieg nur aus Gottesfurcht und fUr alles,
was gut und sch6n ist. _"ber Henn man genauer hinsieht,
sinds nicht so bl~d, sondern f1!hren die Krieg ff1r Gewinn.
Und anders fll'den die kleinen Leut wie icn auch nicht
8
mitmachen.
Hutter Courage not only is sharp to nrotect her business interests at
the expense of her children, but at the rest of humanity also.
cha-:~la:in
The
takes four of her "officer' 5 shirts II to use as bandages, but
to no avail as the i-rounds only bleed through the precious material.
}fu.tter Courage unconcerned Kith the loss of human life bewails the loss
of heJ?Chirts more, and feels threatened ,'lith financial disaster in the
face of human misery. 84
82~schbieter,
Band XIV:
Henning, Friedrichs Dramatike tles Welttheaters,
Brecht II, 2. Aui'lage, Velber: Friedrich Verlag, 19 ,p. 31.
83Courage, p.
El.1-
~. pp.
37.
67-8.
- 1+S '['he fact that 1-futter Courage is ,-molly de:)endent upon vlar for
sustenance is made evident in Ti13ll.Y accounts not just when the chaplain
aptly names her a "hyena of the battlefield ll8S , but her total surrender
and de1)endence upon war for sup-cort is exemplified in the mercantile
song of war:
Ich laB mir den Krieg von euch nicht madig machen. Es
heiBt, er vertilgt die SCi1Hachen, aber die sind auch hin
im Frieden. Nur der Krieg n~rt seine Leut besser:
Und geht er l1ber deine KrMte
Bist du beim Sieg halt nicht dabei.
Der Krieg ist nix als die GeschMte
Und statt mit Kfise ists mit Blei.
Und 'tvas mlicht schon SeB~~twerden ntttzen. Die SeBhaften sind zuerst hin.
'iJith this song, Mutter Courage recomrni ts herself to the business of
nrofit.eering, cost Hhat it may--ultimately it could only cost her her
own life, but her philosophy is that those who are settled are the first
to go; so she ruthlessly dives once again into battle.
'r'ne "slogan of Mutter Courage--take :;Jart and keep aloof il
87
apl~lies
not only to her dealinE;s vrith the r;ar, bU/alSO to her relationship .nth
her children.
3.ischbieter interpreted that "Die m!ndJe rin Courage geht
oS
durch den Krieg, die Hutter w-ird vom Krieg c;etroffen. llu
This interpre-
tation is rather questionable though Hhen one studies the dialogue exchanged between l'futter Courage and her children.
One early example in
the text alludes that Courage might have some concern for th.e children,
but the question is uhether it is due to their useful purpose of pulling
the lmgon and picking up surmlies for her, or vrhet...'1er it is due to
parental concern:
Dll Hillst vom Krieg leben, aber dich und die Deinen
uillst du drauBen halten, ,vie? •••
liiIl vom Krieg leben
8
~1ird il:'Ull wo:11 mtissen auch ,-;-as geben. 9
es Ibid •
p.
(;9.
B8 'li
i
sc hb·1et er, p. ?3
_ •
(J9
B6Ibid • p. 83.
u
Courage, p.
18.
b7Hennemeier, F .N. "l'lother Courage and her Children" from the book
~
____ ' __ ..L_
11
,.,._.,.,
__
,
..
- 46 TIle most elucidating test of values for Mutter Courage is proven
Hhen in scene three she allmm her second son to be killed rather than
surren der h er
"H~gon
·
90
an d b uS:tness.
Tne family picture represented in
-
this drama is perhaps
atYl:lical, but in other of the Brecht plays, Der
--
kaukasische Kreidekreis for
ex~le,
one sees that Brecht's families
do not exhibit the IInorm" of love' and devotion.
Therefore, the family
of :t-lutter Courage is not a special instance, rather provides the op:o)ortunity for the protagonist to heroically and at great personal
to save the famil;r.
e~)ense
If the reader is disappointed that such doe s not
happen, then he Irnst remember that Brecht, a moralist,
vlaS
trying to
prove a point in this drama and interpreted characters' actions and the
end r2)sult from his
O1m
theories regarding human relations.
One ques-
tion the reader may derive, precisely the one which Brecht would have
vds:led, might be ..mether it liaS the sick society at the root of these
conditions as "Dresented in Mutter Courage und Ihre Kinder, or Hhether
the conditions made the society (i.e. people) act and react as it did.
00
, Ibid. p.
56.
- h7
Der kaukasische Kreidekreis
Hritten
1944/h5
-'-;sslin calls this drama lithe outstanding example of the tec;mique
of the le'Jic' drama.
It is one of Brecht1s greatest plays.n9
1
Due
to the dual 1)10t in the play, the setting of a dispute in fl.ussia over
a tract of land and the background plot the
this play is e}Jitomized as lIepic ll •
If
Chinese Chalk Circle 11 ,
Set in the utopia of the pure col1lrrIUlli:t
state in 'russia, a dispute over a grassland 1mich -;:)reviously boasted
several goat herds i..Jas to be returned to the original mmers for further
nroduction of goat products, or turned over to fruit c.rmrers for irrigation of the valley.
In an idealistic po:.i tical discussion about 'lrlhom the
rightful mmers might be, the decision reached is the people who are to
derive the most Droduction from the land, IJresumably for the state.
Th.erei'ore, the fruit farmers are accorded the valley, and the goat herdeJ:3
are recompensed vQ th a moralistic -;>lay of Chinese origin destined to
exemplify the lD.sdom of the decision made.
In the legend of the Chalk Circle, a child of a governor ousted in
a civil revolution is abandoned by his mother to a kitchen maid, Grusche,
h
1'1110
~€:n
at great
~ersonal
sacrifice, raise::: the child as ;1er own.
As
time \wald have it, the biological mot;:er returns to claim the child as
her
OvID
in order to 1Jrofi t from his inheritance.
The foster
Grusche, protests and fights in court to keep him as her own.
l·;illing to rend the child into in a
mot'1er, Grusche shows her
n~U)therly
,judge and is accorded th/nild.
The
~,hysical
fir;ht
mot~ler,
Not being
'Ira th the biological
lovell in the decision of the peasant
legen~d
decision being :Jroven
in both instances, Grusche is alloned to marry her fiance and live blissfully Hi th a borroued child as the fruit farmers ,.Jith the valley.
913sslin, pp. 319-20.
- 48 frae to the limited scope and
l~ghly
901itical idealized nature of
tris dr-ama, elements of the human condition which surface are influenced
by' the politics of the plot.
The family element may be inteI1lreted to
be a precursor of the socialized motherhood now existent in the Communist
states.
Brecht perhaps at his most idealistic
state of
~otherhood
~~ites
the most virtuous
for the character Grusche, though for plot sequential
reasons this is not divulged until the end:
!lUnd jetzt sag ich dir's:
Ich hab ihn genommen, 1wil ich mich dir verlobt hat an diesem ostertag.
Und so ist's ein Kind der Liebe. lI ..!°2
Thlnild, Hichel, BELONGS to Grusche
for the reason that she "raised him and he kn01l"S her" 93 as a mother;
therei'ore, there is no question of Hho the correct mother is.
The family
element is not just idealized, but oversimplified to lend more weight
to
~iel
ba.nt political theory expressed in this drama.
If the reader has follovled the train of thought regarding individuality
in Brecht's theory of tile human condition, then the follo..Jing discussion
of politics might seem confusing or even contradictory.
dialeetics are not to be forgotten.
HO:7ever, Brecht ~
Zsslin succintly points out the
element of truth amongst the dialectics Hhich led Brecht to conflict
~
"nth thePomr:runists as his t>,eoF.r regarding the hu.rnan condition ACTU1~LLY
differed from theirs:
liThe Caucasian Chalk Circle preaches that--things
should be given to those vTho make the best use of them--a dangerous
doctrine in any Comt"1IUnist country, Hhere the "\Taste and inefficiency of the
autho:::-ities are in constant evidence. II 94
All
dif~erences
of opinion are not avoidable in the pure communist
state, in fact priviliges are sacrificed:
92
The goat herders who have
Brecht, Bertolt, Der kaudasische Kreidekreis, 11. Auflage, F. a. M.:
Suhrka..'Tlp Verlag, 1971, p. 119.
93 Ibid • p. 117.
94.",,,8s_1n,
l'
p. 231 •
- 49 been und'3I'Vray for three days to come to the trial are upset 1men the
decision and arguments are to be presented in a half-a-day's time.
reply is:
"Genosse, inr haben nicht mehr so viele
so viele !'.rbeitsh!lnde und nicht soviel Zeit.
P~le
D~rfer
'rhe
und nicht mehr
Vergn'tlgungen mtissen
rationiert lTerden, der Tabak ist rationiert und der -11ein und die Diskussion
9"
auch. II~)
The people cannot came to an example of agre8.tllent lIDtil they
emotionally embrace each other in memory of the revolutionaries who
fought for the homeland.
Once unity exists, the decision is quickly
formulated and all seem resigned.
1\s a warning to capitalists (flIDctionaries too), the governor of
Grusin is forcibly removed from his position, r..is family is dispersed,
and he himself is murdered.
As a further ...aming to the "common people tt
about follow:i.ng the tt'urong tl sort of political pO'lV'er, Brecht points out
that the lives of the little people are in jeopardy ,·men the demigods
perish:
Henn das i-iaus eines GroBen zusannnenbricht
U I3rden viele Kleine erschlagen.
D:ie das Gltick der M&chtigen nicht teilten
Tailen oft ihr Ungltick. Der stttrzende \'lagen
ReiBt die SCh1Jitzen~~n Zugtiere
Hit in den Abgrund.
However, lrith the new times resulting from the change in political
pm-rer, the Illittle people" no longer nmst fear the wrath and vengeance
of dic:tators" rather the IIpeople ll come into control and meet out justice:
=~ine neue Zeit ist gekommen, die l1ber dich ~chauwaJ
:linuegdonnern wird, du bist erlecligt, Polizisten Herden
ausgemerzt, pfft. Alles ..lird untersucht, aufgedeckt.
Da meldet sich einer lieb~r von sel ber, ,"arum er kann
dem Volk nich~trinnen/(
9~reidekreis,
96Ibid • p. 23.
97 Ibid • p. 81.
p. 8.
50 The fact that policemen are superfluous in the lInew societyll does not
change the reality in which Brecht resided in the 3astern sector.
Though the IIjudgell--representing the llpeople ll --may shrink from using
"material possessions as proof of humanityll,,98 the fact that justice in
"the new state was still capable of being purchased, even though not
alvrays by the materially weathly; the corruptness of justice is not
{.changed even lihen the l1judge l1 deserts his chair. BrechtPas perhaps not
as interested in sUyJPort:ing a political theory in this drama as experimenting with the flexibility of his dramatic theory.
Due to the idealism
and inconsistency with Brecht! s experience, it "Hould seem to the writer
that this drama vTaS more important from its theatrical effect rather
than the content.
98 Ibid • p. 111 •
•
- 51
CON C L U S ION
'Human situat,ion' is (the] same for all of us; that we
all live under the illusion of the separateness and indestructibility of each one1s ego ••• that we all suffer
because this answer to life is a false one, and that
He can get rid of the suffering only by giving the right
an~~rer--that of overcoming the illusion of separateness,
of overcoming greed, and of waking9~p to the funda:ti1ental
truths which govern our existence.
B~lcht,
dialectically optimistic, a revolutionary philanthropic
social dramatist concerned wi t:i the human question occupied himself
wi th aiding mankind in overcoming his alienation--to an understanding
of self-realization by analysis of those threats imposed upon him by
society.
Brecht t s task ..las to c'tlange society, and THll.'r, he maintained,
involved indiv.iduals working together.
flHis is ••• the attitude of the
humanist ,;,mo believes that 'man does not have to remain the 1·ms he is
I,
and lv-rho ackno1-rledges our involvement in human lreakness, yet refuses to
.
I vernent as
accep t th e ~nvo
.p'
~~n
al ••• 111 100
Brecht, therefore, accused of reflecting many radical opinions
remains a humanist interested and DNOLVED ,vi.th mankind.
One may
search through Brecht's biographers, such as Gsslin, for proof that
Brecht LIVED his theory as ,'7ell as he applied it to his social dramas,
or one may resort to his alter ego, Herr Keuner, for verification of
his concern for the human condition:
l"err Keuner hatte einmal anl!!Blich einer Frage nach dem
Vaterland die Anti-mrt gegeben: "lch kann l1berall hungern. 1I
Uun .fragte ibn der eifrige ParteisekretJir Kulicke, woher es
komme, daB er sage, er hungere, w!1hrend er doch in Wir'Y.J.ichlceit zu essen habe. Herr Keuner rechtfertigte sich, indem er
:3agte: ''Iiahrsche:inlich wollte ich sagen, ich kann 11berall
leben, vrenn ich leben vdll, wo Hunger herrscht. Ich gebe zu,
tiaB es ein groBer Unterschied ist, ob ich seIber hungere, oder
Qb ich lebe, ..TO Hunger herrscht. -'\ber zu meiner Entschuldigung
:la.rf ich wohl anftthren, daB ftir mich, im Gegensatz zu anderen,
leben, 'HO Hunger herrscht, vTenn nicht ebenso schlimm "de
hung ern, so doch wenigstens sehr schlimm ist. Es ,,[!ire ja nicht
'Jichtig, vrenn ich Hunger h!1tte, ab
es 1st i·dchtig, daB ich
dagegen bin, daB :Tunger herrscht.1I rO 1
99 Fronnn., p. 28.
100Sander, p. xii.
101Keuner, p. 28.
..
"
- .52 1-3 I
l:3 L I
0 G ': A PIty
l'C"irl8.ry 501.1rces:
Leben dee Galilei.
Bre cht ,!lertol t.
f11 r t
a. 7, ' . •
Suh~:ann
Auf~abe.
13.
Frar>k-
1972.
~erla~.
1 '}
ner ,";u to :':en", d, von ~) e zuan •
Frank:furt a. 1' • •
';u;;dzanl"j:) Verln.r;. 1970.
_~~1
•
Auflage.
I"llttcr Cour" '~e VHf) Ihre Kil~der.
>~(li ted
l,y '/oll"nar ;,,,'''ccr.
"'C';
'corl::
O':'forc:' 1·'ivc:<.,ASii;y
T'J!"S.
1 :' (. J, •
r: T'"
:~/~~J~\:~ !:·:~CU'·~8J·n.
'311>r";C],"T' ",T o " l ' ,
1,
1 - 1 ;:: :
1,:':C:.
. C ,.' ,'"
(
.5,
von
\;/"~·l"·~'
1:?).
1"",(,_'0
;T'c"t
:," 1 ',;
e, t r e •
tr:'''lslatc(i
,.To~l1')
T'j
of
llett.
1 :' C, Ii •
01J1.'Ce ' .
,
~~ e
"2rli'l,:
i t r<~': r;e
' il Ltel'
<:,il1=l
,
ztJ 1~ 1_ i t
11.
8 :_·',~1
t
Loe":i,n'.
1 ~-\
ll-;'-' •
1 ',I! ",
1:~1<
I,n
11-'[1,
1 "'.10_CO.
?'::;-;,'''',
iC~l.
"I.
=_~-.~,.~:i;.·· 0.:,,1 ./:...ctio:'.l.
COi_F1tc;;"'nox'a~."'~T
hiloso, "ie'S 01' "l11"a" ,l..cL;vit=".
'l:'l~ ICl,r]C"1r11io
:'i . . . -eJ::-'E;i_-~~~T of' r'~.
:--C0SS.
1(':?1. I)"~··· ~i'_~:~.
'~'-8i,
o.rl von.
i ;-u t
~~
e r e 01..1 r~:-l .,-rc
1-111. r1
['ollI'el,';:
,\lLfl::)c:e.
:~d
it QT'.
~(C~l.Jl';:',:J_s
-'--)8}""'
C.
C),~T:'lC':O
i
E·
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'::n~ti]l.
ec1 j, t i 0':'1.
Tnc.
;'>:en,
Tlrc:-cilt:
?: e,,' Yor1z:
t
-
A Co]]ection of Critical
Inc.
['he iT2,r D,nd 'i~3Tork.
~~evised
1l n c i ,or :::ooks, J:oublocl:'y
Co.,
j-i'rederic.
T10rtol t ilrecllt:
ilis Life,
','imes.
Nell yo~c:
Citadelress, ~nc.
Fetscher, I.
[lerder.
Fromm,
X':3 i s .
Verla.,,:.
'~re~,tice-Uall
ll~ssli>c',
.i re i (, ~~
'1I1arx :lnd [.:arxism.
~e;:l York:
1971.
~-P. 1Q6-203.
;is Art and
1 <) 67
•
~!ercler
&-
Erich.
8eyonc1 tl10 Chains of Il11 1 sion.
My Encounter
~~~--~--~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narx and Freud.
New York:
Trident Press. 1962.
~ith
.
Geissler, Rolf.
Editor.
Zur Interrretation des modernen
Dramas.
Brecht, Diirrenmntt, li'risch.
2. Auflag-e.
F'rankfurt a. M.:
Moritz Diesterweg Verlag.
1960 •
- 53 Bihlio~raphy
contd.
p
1~c;rtol
cto.ns.
Beske
t
i.<'llllin-ren:
Dr-:;c!'t l1nd die 'I'rad i t:L OE.
1061 •
Verl~~.
..;I:..'l:..'__e:-_'..:~'.::i:...:(_·'..:cl:..J~~..:e:...--=o:..f'.::~__
f ~..::L::..;.'3_t::...::o..:r:-::y~.__--='I:..'l...;.l,..:e:-..:G:..;Tr e at:::; p e c u~ 0,\1.
lators fron 'rico to Frcu';.
-:, ~'(6.
1'1'. :<21-~'J,?L:7-C;C
T}J~"c~t
.,
"'\:r~:~_0cJric-'l
.
T.
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,
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1:1 •
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(or
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('
"I..'
•
""or 1 -
119,15C-2.
~reic;
-':0.1 t e:::.
e Ii,
by
i' r
-:ja~"iel
(' s
S •
TJle
\rt of' Cicrtolt
'~;rocht.
.~llsso11.
1 S' (j J
•
;;:L11c:,tt, .John.
The The2.tre o:f' ilertolt BrocJlt.
FroLl ~~ic;>llt As"ects.':,'c'i edition.
Directions.
1960.
A Stlldy
Tape:
III
t e rna t ion 0
Pohl:.
S •
Bertolt Drecht.
-ierwic.
"nie hocllsch~111'olitische La"-e ar der Fraien
Un i v e r sit ii t p, e r 1 in It •
~ •a y
1 5, 1 97 J •
13 e r 1 in:
1~ 0 tel
Syl ter ;:of.
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