BERTOLT

BRECHT
1898-1956
2313 Readings in Dramatic Literature
THE IN-BETWEEN

01 02 03 04
Bertolt Brecht was Was born into a He attended Brecht lived
a German Marxist middle-class Maximilian through World
poet, playwright, family. University in War I (1914-1918)
and a theatre Munich at the age and World War II
director. of sixteen. (1939-1945).
 EARLY-LIFE
• Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht was
Born on February 10, 1898
• Augsburg, Germany
• Father: Berthold Friedrich Brecht
• Mother: Sophie Nee Brezing
• He had one brother: Walter Brecht
 Early Life Cont.
• His father worked in a paper factory
• His mother was ill with breast cancer
most of his life
• Brecht was a sickly child, having a
congenital heart condition and a facial
tic; he had his first heart attack at the
age of 12
• Attended a Protestant elementary
school and a private school
• He studied the ideas of Nietzsche and
Marx
 Early Life Cont.
• While in school he co-founded and co-edited a
school magazine called “The Harvest”
• The Bible was the book which exerted the
greatest influence upon his writings. Brecht's
early works, Die Bibel (1913), and Die
Dreigroschenoper (1928) were collections of
essays and poetry with allusions to The Bible, a
trend that appears in much of his work
• Attended Maximilian University in Munich
where he studied in the medical field
• His first relationship was with Marianne Zoff and
they had a daughter named Hanne 
 Sex Life
• Was rumored to have no fewer
than three mistresses at a time
• By sixteen he would frequently go
to brothels
• Had many illegitimate children
• Experimented with homosexuality
• Many diaries mention his need for
males and females to fulfill his
sexual desires 
 Earliest Works

• Drums in the night (1922) 

• Baal (1923)
• In the Jungle of Cities (1923)

• Received Kleist Prize for Young Dramatists

• ANTIGONE • DRUMS IN THE • IN THE JUNGLE OF • REPORT FROM OPERA (musical)
• BAAL NIGHT CITIES HERMBURG • THE TRIAL OF JOAN
• THE BADEN-BADEN • THE DUCHESS OF • DER JASAGER • THE RESISTIBLE RISE OF ARC OF PROVEN,
LESSON CONSENT MALFI • THE JUDITH OF OF ARTURO UI 1413
• THE BEGGAR • THE ELEPHANT CALF SHIMODA • A RESPECTABLE • THE TRIAL OF
• THE EXCEPTION AND • KUHLE WAMPE WEDDING LUCULLUS
• THE CATCH
THE RULE • THE LIFE OF • RISE AND FALL OF • TRUMPETS AND
• THE CAUCASIAN THE CITY OF DRUMS
CHALK CIRCLE • FEAR AND MISERY EDWARD II OF
OF THE THIRD REICH ENGLAND MAHAGONNY • TURANDOT
• CORIOLANUS • ROUND HEADS AND
• THE FLIGHT ACROSS • LIFE OF GALILEO • THE TUTOR
• DANSEN THE OCEAN POINTED HEADS
• LUX IN TENEBRIS • DIE VERURTEILUNG
• THE DAYS OF THE • THE GOOD PERSON • • SAINT JOHN OF THE DES LUKULLUS
COMMUNE MAHAGONNY- STOCKYARDS
OF SZECHWAN SONGSPIEL • THE VISIONS OF
• THE DECISION • HANGMANALSO DIE! • • SCHWEIK IN THE SIMONE MACHARD
MAN EQUALS MAN SECOND WORLD
• DON JUAN • HAPPY END (musical) • MOTHER COURAGE WAR
• DOWNFALL OF THE • THE HORATIANS AND HER CHILDREN • SENORA CARRAR’S
EGOTIST JOHANN AND THE RIFLES
FATZER • DER NEINSAGER
CURIATIANS
• MR PUNTILA AND • THE SEVEN DEADLY
• DRIVING OUT A • HOW MUCH IS YOUR HIS MAN MATTI SINS
DEVIL IRON?
• THE THREEPENNY
MID-LIFE
• 1922: Brecht’s international fame and recognition began with his play
Trommeln in der Nacht, or Drums in the Night
• Brecht worked with many actors, including Hanns Eisler on a political
film called Kuhle Wampe, where they adopted the communist
ideology
• At 18, he almost got expelled for disagreeing with popular / common
opinions and expressions in a poem he wrote called, Legend of the
Dead Soldier
MID-LIFE CONT.
• 1930: All of Brecht’s books, plays, and performances were banned in
Germany

• Brecht lived through World War I and World War II

• Brecht believed theatre should make a statement; he despised the

popular / bourgeois theatre of the middle class
EPIC THEATRE
• The complete opposite Naturalistic theatre, where actors present real human
emotion to try to make a connection with the audience
• He wanted to constantly remind the audience that they were watching a play
• In order to disconnect the characters from the audience, Brecht created
techniques in order to successfully do this
• He wanted to inspire his audiences to go out and make a change

NARRATION
• Brecht often used a narrator.
-Ex: The Caucasian Chalk Circle
LIGHTING
• Flooding the stage with bright white light no matter what setting it
was showing
• Leaving stage lights where the audience can see them
• Explanations are projected onto a screen
• Minimal props and indicative scenery

SPAβ
• Spaβ or spass means fun or joke in German.
Final Part of Life
• Brecht's four great plays were written between 1938 and 1945: THE CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE,
THE GOOD PERSON OF SZECHWAN, MOTHER COURAGE AND HER CHILDREN, and LIFE OF
GALILEO.

• In 1954, Brecht won the International Lenin Peace Prize. Brecht received the German National
Prize in 1957.

• Toward the end of his life, he dedicated himself to directing plays and developing the talents of the
next generation of young directors and dramaturgs. He also wrote some of his most famous
poems, including the “Buckow Elegies.”
Final Part of Life
• Brecht died of a heart attack on August 14, 1956, while working on a response to Samuel Beckett's
absurdist play Waiting for Godot, written the year before
• Provided instructions for his own funeral ( He wanted a stiletto be placed in his heart and to be
buried in a steel coffin so that his corpse would not be riddled with worms. He also left a will
giving the proceeds of his various works to particular mistresses.)
• Statue of Brecht outside the Berliner Ensemble's Theatre in Berlin
SOURCES
• “Epic Theatre of Brecht.” Epic Theatre of Brecht. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 June 2014. http://www.cs.brandeis.edu/-
jamesf/goodwoman/brecht_epic_theater.html
• “Brechtian Theatre.” Brechtian Theatre. N.p.,n.d. Web. 12 June 2014
http://de.slideshare.net/ghalcrow/brechtian-theatre
• "Bertolt Brecht." Biography.com. A&E Networks Television, 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 11 Apr. 2017.14
• "Bertolt Brecht." Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017..
• Brecht, Bertolt. "Bertolt Brecht Biography | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays." GradeSaver: Getting You
the Grade. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017. W
• Brecht, Bertolt. "Bertolt Brecht Biography | List of Works, Study Guides & Essays." GradeSaver: Getting
You the Grade. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2017. 
• eb. 11 Apr. 2017.