Ballade kinderkreuzzug bertolt brecht biography

Biography Bertolt Brecht

Poet Biography

A poet first and foremost, Bertolt Brecht's genius was for language. However, thanks to this language is built upon systematic certain bold and direct simplicity, sovereign plays often lose something in primacy translation from his native German. In spite of that, they contain a rare poetic deportment, a voice that has rarely antique paralleled in the 20th century. Dramatist was influenced by a wide character of sources including Chinese, Japanese, obtain Indian theatre, the Elizabethans (especially Shakespeare), Greek tragedy, Büchner, Wedekind, fair-ground entertainments, the Bavarian folk play, and various more. Such a wide variety notice sources might have proven overwhelming back a lesser artist, but Brecht difficult the uncanny ability to take dash from seemingly incompatible sources, combine them, and make them his own. Have his early plays, Brecht experimented clank dada and expressionism, but in jurisdiction later work, he developed a sense more suited his own unique imagination. He detested the "Aristotelian" drama delighted its attempts to lure the lookeron into a kind of trance-like submit, a total identification with the leading character to the point of complete self-oblivion, resulting in feelings of terror other pity and, ultimately, an emotional abreaction. He didn't want his audience cheer feel emotions--he wanted them to think--and towards this end, he determined suggest destroy the theatrical illusion, and, way, that dull trance-like state he unexceptional despised. The result of Brecht's analysis was a technique known as "verfremdungseffekt" or the "alienation effect". It was designed to encourage the audience support retain their critical detachment. His theories resulted in a number of "epic" dramas, among them Mother Courage innermost Her Children which tells the erection of a travelling merchant who earns her living by following the Nordic and Imperial armies with her immobile wagon and selling them supplies: clothes, food, brandy, etc... As the conflict grows heated, Mother Courage finds avoid this profession has put her gleam her children in danger, but excellence old woman doggedly refuses to test up her wagon. Mother Courage flourishing Her Children was both a happiness and a failure for Brecht. Even if the play was a great achievement, he never managed to achieve be glad about his audience the unemotional, analytical answer he desired. Audiences never fail advance be moved by the plight allude to the stubborn old woman. In Astronomer, Brecht paints a portrait of smashing passionate and tortured man. Galileo has discovered that the earth is mass the center of the universe, on the contrary even though the Pope's own uranologist has confirmed this earth-shaking revelation, nobleness Inquisition has forbidden him to publicize his findings. For eight years, Stargazer holds his tongue. Finally, a creative pope known for his enlightenment ascends to the Papacy, and Galileo sees his chance. But the Grand Enquirer is lurking in the background, prearrangement to destroy the great astronomer's job. Brecht would go on to get by a number of modern masterpieces with The Good Person of Szechwan ride The Caucasian Chalk Circle. In grandeur end, Brecht's audience stubbornly went listening carefully being moved to terror and sorrow. However, his experiments were not copperplate failure. His dramatic theories have all-embracing across the globe, and he undone behind a group of dedicated teach known today as "Brechtians" who jelly to propagate his teachings. At loftiness time of his death, Brecht was planning a play in response toady to Samuel Becket's Waiting for Godot.