In this Book

Brecht and the Bible: A Study of Religious Nihilism and Human Weakness in Brecht's Drama of Morality and the City

Book
By G. Ronald Murphy
1980
Published by: The University of North Carolina Press
Series: UNC Studies in Germanic Languages and Literatures
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summary
This study identifies the underlying patterns of persistent biblical allusion in the work of renowned playwright Bertolt Brecht. Rather than reducing Brecht's use of the Bible to the purely satirical, the author interprets the full dramatic function of Brecht's complex use of scripture. Using examples from plays written throughout the span of Brecht's career, Murphy shows how Brecht invokes the stories of Old Testament figures such as Job and Isaiah as well as the crucifixion accounts of the New Testament in order to build sympathetic characters and explore his more political themes.

Table of Contents

open access

Cover

Half-Title Page

pp. i

Series Note

pp. ii-iii

Frontispiece

pp. iv

Title Page

pp. v

Copyright

pp. vi

Dedications

pp. vii-viii

Table of Contents

pp. ix-x

Acknowledgments

pp. xi

Half-Title Page

pp. 1-2

I. Introduction: The Problem

pp. 3-12

II. Die Bibel: The City Besieged

pp. 13-23

III. Baal: A Bohemian in the City

pp. 24-48

IV. Mahagonny: No New Jerusalem

pp. 49-67

V. Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder: To Save or Not to Save the City Besieged

pp. 68-87

VI. Conclusions

pp. 88-93

Notes

pp. 95-95

Selected Bibliography

pp. 101-104
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