Literature I've enjoyed
by K. S. Sivakumaran
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was both a theoretician and playwright. He wrote in the
German language, but most of his work had been translated into English. He called
his theatre "epic theatre". He rejected the Aristotelian concept of "purging of emotion"
(catharsis). On the contrary, his aims were didactic. In a way, he was propagandist
and a promoter of agitation (agit prop). In watching a play or a movie, invariably, we
suspend disbelief and take the events or scenes portrayed for granted, don't we?
But Brecht did not subscribe to the theory of "suspension of disbelief". His aims were
blatantly didactic.
He saw the theatre as a spectacle that we Easterners are accustomed to. He wanted a
distance between the audience and the performers... In other words he did not want
us to be moved by the events or sequences and react emotionally to what is shown.
He wanted us to be not involved in the drama but view it as an outsider rationally or
intellectually. This was the famous "alienation" theory.
To achieve this, he introduced a narrator to introduce the play and also to instruct the
audience on what the viewers should see and how the play should be interpreted. The
narrator took the place of the chorus in Greek plays.
To facilitate this he brought only quick, brief scenes as opposed to the traditional
theatre format. He used songs and dances to convey his theme. Brecht was critical of
modern society as he was a Marxist.
His famous plays had been performed in Sinhala and Thamil in Sri Lanka. His plays
include: The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Mother Courage and Her children, The God
Woman of Setzuan (strongly linked with the Buddhist Jataka stories and Chinese folk
story), The Life of Galileo, The Three Penny Opera.
One of Brecht's lines:
Unhappy the land that is in need
of heroes
Here are more quotes from his plays:
"Fearful is the seductive power of
goodness"
"In a good country virtues wouldn't be necessary:
"Everybody could be quite ordinary, middling, and for all I care, cowards"
Shakespeare's salutation
Age cannot whither her, nor
custom stale
Her infinite variety, Other women cloy
The appetites they freed, but she makes hungry
Where most she satisfies; for vilest things
Become, themselves in her, that the holy priests
Bless her when she is right
The above is a description by Enobarbus on the seductive quality of Cleopatra in the
play "Antony and Cleopatra"
Samphire
"Samphire" is the title of a story by Patrick O'Brien, who has written a series of moral
novels set in the 18th century. He has also translated the works of French writer
Simone de Beauvoir and other French writers into English.
This story is about a conventional married couple on holiday by the sea. Molly and
Lacey are their names. Their married life seems to be one of emptiness. This is
revealed in his story as Molly seems to be unhappy. She does not answer the nagging
questions of her husband who treats her shabbily.
She makes a desperate attempt to free herself from the stifling marriage, mainly
because her husband is a weak and conceited man.
In some respects this story is reminiscent of the theme of Henrik Ibsen's famous play,
The Doll's House. In this story too, the man patronizing and assumes that she accepts
all that he says and wants her to think in the same way as he does.
Molly in a moment of deep-seated hostility pushes him down as they both climb a cliff
to pick up a Samphire. Even at that Lacey rationalized as spasm or accident. He
hopes he can live together with his wife, but the story is inconclusive as most good
stories are.
Here is an excerpt from the story:
"Motionless is equilibrium for one timeless space a cinema stopped in action" then his
right hand gripped the soil, tore, ripped the grass and was up, from the edge
crouched, gasping hue sobbing draughts of air on the path."
This is a story of a conceited man and a wife who has tolerated for a long time.
Richard III
Here are two passages from Shakespeare's Richard III.
"My conscience hath a thousand several tongues. And every tongue brings in several
tales. And every tale condemns me for a villain."
(Richard is feeling pangs of guilt)
"I shall despair. There is no creature loves me. And if I die no soul will pity me. And
wherefore should they, since that I myself Find in myself no pity to myself?"
(Richard realises that he is completely unloved)