Brecht Was a Great Man Term Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 1201 words ( 4 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 3

Page 1 of 4



As indicated on the Universalteacher.org Web site: "Epic theatre is historical: the audience is continually reminded that epic theatre gives a report of events." Encouraging the audience to remain detached and separate from the narrative, strange things must be put in place to establish and preserve distancing. V-effekt as defined previously was Brecht's way of doing this. He provides an example of V-effekt through the situation of a child whose mother remarries, thus seeing her as a wife not just a mother. An example from "Life of Galileo is the long and profound speech by the unheroic protagonist which is then followed by the bathetic observation: "Now I must eat." (Brecht 2008, 64)

Galileo as shown through Brecht, is an anti-hero through his cowardice behavior. He fears the instruments of torture that come with bravery. He fails the role of hero through his refusal and lack of courage to prove himself as a great figure. Instead he runs away from refusing to face his problems.

He doesn't fulfill our expectations of what traditionally makes a hero. Aristotelian theory of theatre placed great importance on adherence to unities of time, place and action. In "Life of Galileo', these unities are violated. The time frame within the plot cover decades. They're also shown to have taken place in places not adjacent or near each other, but rather along stretches of great distance.

The hero is not a person seeking a single action with commitment, but rather for many actions that do not form into a single, unifying action. The play also uses narrative form in that it takes past events uses it as material for dramatization. It asks the audience to relate to characters in an observant, unconnected manner.

Stuck Writing Your "Brecht Was a Great Man" Term Paper?

View All Our Example Brecht Was a Great Man Term Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

The audience cannot show empathy for the characters, but rather see what happened to allow a critical response. Brecht's desire to continue this went onwards through the way the music was played and used along with the actions done by the characters.

For Brecht the music and the action in his plays should make the other appear odd and off-putting as to continue the goal of distance.The result of the V-effekt is a contrast of seeing things differently in the play and then applying it to the real world. If one can see change happen in the play, then they can assimilate that to possible change in society. Play like "Life of Galileo" show how society could be different, if attitudes deeply embedded in society are altered even if the task seems improbable to succeed. He shows this through Mother Courage in Galileo.

Ultimately, Brecht hoped to demonstrate and explain in his plays the depravity and emptiness of the bourgeois, capitalist society. His goal was to show the audience the possibility and the need for a new society to replace the old. He also believed this social change was inevitable. He wanted to bring change in a way that was long lasting, impactful.

The political allegory was undetected by the audience and at times people assumed different things and came to conclusions not related to Brecht's goal. However, some groups, namely Liberals, caught onto Brecht's viewpoint and his plays became apart of non-naturalistic theatre. Which some might, therefore, see as the work of a dissident, and subversive of the new revolutionary establishment......

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Brecht Was A Great Man" (2013, May 06) Retrieved May 18, 2024, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/brecht-great-man-88301

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Brecht Was A Great Man" 06 May 2013. Web.18 May. 2024. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/brecht-great-man-88301>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Brecht Was A Great Man", 06 May 2013, Accessed.18 May. 2024,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/brecht-great-man-88301
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example