Extent Did The Weimar Republic Government Influence The Creation Of Epic Theatre?

1786 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Brechts influence on modern theatre

To what extent did the Weimar Republic government influence the creation of epic theatre?
Section A
The purpose of this investigation is to examine the factors within Weimar Germany that allowed for Bertolt Brecht’s epic theatre to form. To understand what factors influenced this form of theatre, the content of plays written and produced during this time period in this style will be discussed. These forms of theatre will then be discussed in relation to events surrounding the rule of the Weimar Republic in Germany.
Section B
After the fall of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918, and before the rise of Adolf Hitler as Chancellor in 1933, Germany experienced a great freedom in arts (Cummings). Artists came forward with presentations representing the turmoil and strife caused by the uncertain Weimar Republic that held power in between these two oppressive regimes.
The Weimar Republic was formed after the abdication of Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1918 (“Weimar Republic”). This government followed an intense period of German nationalism during World War One, as the Germans sought to establish themselves as a major power. The Weimar government was unpopular from the start, being associated with the loss of the First World War, and the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The ruling of the Republic was unstable at best, with fifteen different governments …show more content…

The popularity of his “Threepenny Opera” shows that audiences also felt this unrest, and felt it important to face these truths and seek real solutions to them (Liu). Felix Gilbert discusses how other young people of his time were enraged and disillusioned with the government, and so wanted an escape from the system. Brecht did not offer this escape; he offered a stark, real look at the issues in this system, and encouraged discussion about ways to change this system. Youth rallied around the ideas Brecht presented, as they varied from those that had failed the youth as they grew

Show More
Related

  • Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government

    581 Words  | 2 Pages

    Exploring the Reasons Behind Public's Discontent with the Weimar Government There were a number of reasons why the German people were unhappy with the Weimar government. One of the main reasons for this was the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. The result of this was that Germany has to take the war guilt, Germany had to pay reparations of 6,600 million marks to the allies in particular France, Germany lost its colonies, it lost its air force & tanks, and its soldiers were restricted to 100,000. The Ruhr was demilitarised. Also they lost their colonies and its land was cut up such as the Polish Corridor and Alsace Lorraine.

    Read More

  • Characteristics Of The Weimar Constitution

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Weimar constitution was forced into creation by the German desire to sign an armistace with the Allied forces after significant defeats on the Western front. Not only were the Allies demanding a democratic governing style in Germany, but there was also a strong desire to move away from the autocratic state that had existed under the Kaiser. Although the new constitution outwardly appeared to be democratic, there were several internal factors that severely undermined the democratic integrity of the new constitution, and made it almost indistinguishable from its autocratic predecessor.

    Read More

  • The Fall Of The Weimar Republic Dbq Essay

    983 Words  | 2 Pages

    The period after World War One was very politically unstable. Many different kinds of governments, such as fascism and communism, were coming up all over Europe. One country that especially faced this political fluctuation was Germany. After the war, Germany was forced into a democracy known as the Weimar Republic, but this government soon collapsed and Hitler’s fascism took over. There were various factors that contributed to the fall of the Weimar Republic, but three major ones were the lack of popular support for the government, the lack of efficiency and internal organization, and the competition of other, more conservative parties such as the Nazis.

    Read More

  • Liebelei

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    First of all, strong insight is perhaps given into the Viennese high society, who were "devoted to order, mannered charm and the grandiloquent facades on the `Ringstrasse' "³ by the reaction of the audiences alone to the play and its characters. Both shocked and embarrassed the Viennese bourgeoisie with its "uncompromising representation of the Viennese world"². Schnitzler's writing of the play and his inclusion of these common, gritty characters coupled with the reaction of this part of Viennese society represents the "test of wills... [sic] between well-behaved traditionalism and liberated modernism"³ emerging in Vienna at this time.

    Read More

  • Collapse of the Weimar Republic

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    Richard Bessel’s article stresses the political structure of Weimar Germany as the cause of its failure. Its structure was flawed in numerous ways, all of which contributed to its inevitable failure. First of all, the problems within Germany due to the First World War were massive. This caused economic, political and social problems which first had to be dealt with by the new Weimar government. The loss of the war had left Germany with huge reparations to pay, and massive destruction to repair. In order to gain the capital needed to finance efforts to rebuild, and repay the Allies, the economy had to be brought back to its prewar levels. This was not an easy task.

    Read More

  • Weimar Republic

    2422 Words  | 5 Pages

    The new socialist government of Weimar (SPD), whose constitution was adopted on July 30, 1919, entered a situation they by no means created. The period during which they were appointed to rule was associated with defeat and misery, and when disorder was nationwide. The situation then, was that of revolution. However, rather than to make a socialist revolution they co-operated with the liberals and with the catholic center party to lead Germany in a reformed version of her old self. In June 1919, they voted to comply with the treaty of Versailles (the vindictive settlement imposed by the Paris peace conference). However, the signing of the Treaty served to promote protest and unrest amongst the soldiers, sailors, German people, and democracy thus resulted in becoming an alien device.

    Read More

  • Weimar Republic Dbq Analysis

    797 Words  | 2 Pages

    The German Weimar Republic was an attempt to make Germany a more democratic state. While this was a very good idea in theory, the Weimar Republic was ineffective due to the instability that came with it. Several factors contributed to the instability of Germany’s Weimar Republic, such as the new political ideals brought forward and the government’s hunger for war.

    Read More

  • Nazi Party's Use of Artistic Propaganda Led To The Ascension and Dominance of German Culture

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout history, government and culture have proven to be inextricably linked . During the early twentieth century, the Nazi Party's use of artistic propaganda through multiple forms of media directly led to its ascension and dominance of German culture. The Nazis' success can be directly attributed to its careful planning, ruthless implementation, and clear results.

    Read More

  • German American Immigration in the 1930s

    1346 Words  | 3 Pages

    The beginning of the 30s in Germany was run under a president by the name of Paul Von Hindenburg and the country, still recovering from World War I, was under good control. Since Hindenburg became president in 1925, he would make laws and decisions without the consent from Parliament, mostly because he did not agree with their decisions. In 1933, Hindenburg appointed Adolf Hitler as chancellor of Germany, a title he kept for a short time, due to the death of Hindenburg a year later. So, in 1934, Hitler declared himself leader, or in precise words, dictator of Germany. By the time he had control over Germany, Hitler overthrew the constitution, permitted only one poli...

    Read More

  • The Extent to Which the Weimar Republic Recovered after 1923

    445 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Extent to Which the Weimar Republic Recovered after 1923 In the period after 1923, under Gustav Stresemann, Germany was able to stand back on its feet and overcome many of its difficulties. Weimar Republic was created in 1919 to govern a defeated Germany after World War One. Germany was facing many social, political and economical problems while the new constitution laid open for the seizure of power. There were many rebellions and attempted revolutions making the country very unstable. Situations were made worse by the harsh terms of Treaty of Versailles, causing hyperinflation and a huge amount of national debt.

    Read More

  • Bertolt Brecht's Mostology, Epic Theatre

    1880 Words  | 4 Pages

    Bertolt Brecht is still one of the key figures of our time,nevertheless today 's theatre works start or

    Read More

  • Weimar Trauma

    996 Words  | 2 Pages

    For the purposes of this thesis, two prominent works created during the Weimar Republic will be analyzed, Bertolt Brecht’s and Kurt Weill’s political-satirical operas, The Threepenny Opera (1928) and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny (1930). The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny both offer a socialist critique of capitalism as well as portraying characters that embody memory and traumas of the time. For example, the lead male in The Threepenny Opera, Mack the Knife, elicits the horror and charm of the period through his grotesque nature and, therefore, may be analyzed as a site of memory. In The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny, Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt is on prominent display as America is viewed as a strange land emphasizing the violence and greed of the social classes. Thus, both The Threepenny Opera and The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahoganny maintain theatrical, social, and historical implications that may aid in the understanding or presentation of cultural memory and trauma within collective

    Read More

  • Bertolt Brecht's Caucasian Chalk Circle - Role of Minor Characters

    1654 Words  | 4 Pages

    Throughout the play, Brecht utilizes Epic theatre’s primary innovation, the Verfremdungseffekt (or distancing effect) to encourage the audience to view the performance intellectually rather than emotionally. This persuades the audience to side with the characters on an objective level and to view the story in a “universal” sense in which the moral of the story is more important than the actual events. To help convey his concerns Brecht avoids constructing characters that will invite an emotional response from the audience, rather, he creates minor characters in the text as archetypes or representations of certain classes within Feudal socie...

    Read More

  • Empathy in Brecht's The Good Person of Szechwan and Mother Courage and Her Children

    2416 Words  | 5 Pages

    Brecht, Bertolt. Brecht on Theatre. Ed. and trans. John Willett. New York: Hill and Wang, 1992.

    Read More

  • Life of Galileo Galilei by Bertolt Brecht

    2194 Words  | 5 Pages

    Brecht’s work activates the senses and makes the audience slip into a trance of critical frenzy. He has taken the idea of Epic theatre to further dramatize his work and thereby portrays the characters in a realistic way so that it is up to the audience to form views about them. In this scene, the audience is exposed to a private talk between the Pope and the Cardinal Inquisitor, themes of public unrest and conflict within society between the two sides: science and theological tradition are brought into light. A sense of doubt has enveloped the public and the Pope and the Inquisitor are trying to expose these thoughts as false. While they are trying to accomplish this, a further theme of material interests and their importance comes into play. A sense of morbidity also arises at the end. However, through this passage Brecht is also trying to incorporate Marxist views, he is doing this in a discrete and clever way, bringing forward the constant struggle between classes.

    Read More

More about Extent Did The Weimar Republic Government Influence The Creation Of Epic Theatre?

Open Document