Abstract
The paper discusses how this study has brought forth the humanistic ideology of Bertolt Brecht to apply to the way and manner in which Galileo has falsely been represented in history. The paper looks at how Brecht redefines Galileo as a human being with fallible human traits; he is unable to become a martyr for the cause of science and he is also a businessman that is not wholly responsible for the ideas that he "historically" made famous through his astronomical observations.

From the Paper
"This study will analyze the humanist ideology of Bertolt Brecht and his evaluation of the historical Galileo in his play, "The Life of Galileo". The humanism that Brecht defines in the play depicts Galileo as a person that is opportunistic, cunning, yet without having a real grasp on the way that his scientific ideas will affect humanity on the whole. In this capacity, Brecht sought to make Galileo into a mortal and fallible man, straying from the more outwardly polished historical interpretations that represent the scientist as something of an icon. Although Galileo's discoveries..."

Tags:brecht, science, theater

Abstract
Sophocles and Brecht were playwrights separated not only by millennia of time but also by the radically different cultural and social contexts of classical Greece and 20th century Europe. This being said, the paper shows that one of the striking elements of a comparison and contrast of Sophocles' "Antigone" and Bertolt Brecht's "The Good Woman of Setzuan" is how similarly they depict the forces that constrict and define women's identities in society. The paper argues that while the primary focus of both works is not specifically related to issues of gender and women's identities, both plays represent challenges to social codes.

Tags:women, sophocles, brecht

Abstract
In this paper, two idealistic heroines are examined from Brecht's "The Good Woman of Setzuan" and Shaw's "Saint Joan."

From the Paper
"The German Bertold Brecht and the Englishman George Bernard Shaw were both innovative and controversial writers who were most active during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Brecht adopted communism and Shaw espoused socialism and free love. Both were radical gadflies and social critics who shocked their contemporaries with the activist philosophies and unpopular but progressive ideas of their plays and other writings."

Tags:Shaw, Brecht, Theatre, History

Abstract
This paper examines how the theater of Brecht and Naturalist theater are very different approaches to performance. It looks at how Brecht's theater was centered on a political agenda and designed to convey messages on that agenda whereas Naturalism is about the art itself and bringing realism to acting, not much to do with politics at all. It studies the working conventions of both Naturalism and Brecht's Epic theater and considers whether Naturalism can fulfill some of the functions of Brecht's theater.

From the Paper
"However, in a far more subtle way, Naturalism can also make points which promote comment on the social and political status of the time, and cause reaction within an audience fueled by these. For example, a great part of "A Doll's House" by Henrik Ibsen is a comment on the social status of the protagonist, Nora Helmer. In a contemporary society, her situation would be considered completely normal, in that she is portrayed as a housewife and mother with little or no rights independently of her husband, and before her marriage, her father. As a woman, she was a second class citizen; whilst having just as much intelligence and common sense as her male counterparts this is smothered and repressed so that she fits the mold of the "good little wife"."

Tags:alienation, chekhov, courage, ibsen, marxism, mother, verfremdungeffekt

Abstract
This paper examines how in his play, "Life of Galileo", Bertolt Brecht describes the ordeal the famous scientist was forced to undergo as he juggled his personal values and views against those of the mainstream society in which he lived. The paper provides a scene-by-scene examination of Brecht's original play to identify these religious and scientific conflicts, as well as Brecht's treatment of the scientist's response to these conditions.

Outline:
Review and Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper
"Scene I. Here Galileo introduces his concept of a new age of enlightened learning, where even "fishwives" will enthusiastically attend school and study advanced topics such as astronomy. Galileo states he first became aware that the Old Guard's days were numbered came when, as a young man in Siena, he watched "a group of building workers argue for five minutes, then abandon a thousand-year old method of shifting granite blocks in favour of a new and more efficient arrangement of the ropes. Then and there I knew, the old days are over and this is a new time" (7)."

Tags:telescope, Middle, Ages, Renaissance

Abstract
The paper discusses Bertolt Brecht's political opera, "The Threepenny Opera" which was first performed in 1928. The paper shows that during this period of time, three distinct and separate political and economical philosophies were on a collision course in Germany: fascism, socialism and communism. It shows that while Brecht was struggling to write this opera, Hitler's first attempt attempt to grab control of the government occurred in 1923 and communism was becoming popular. The paper discusses how communism is reflected in two ways: Brecht mocks both class differences and belief in God.

From the Paper
"Brecht reflects elements of both socialism and communism in some points in the play, such as when Peachum is giving out licenses to beg. That the needs of the poor could be so easily corrupted seems to be a condemnation of a government that would allow people to survive by begging. Peachum uses Filch's need to be allowed to bed as a platform to criticize society's apathy toward the poor. He describes five types of human misery. Each example is a beggar harmed by something the middle and upper classes view as progress in one way or another: one is in an auto accident while another is wounded in war."

Tags:Macheath, Polly, Peachum, human, misery, Jenny, satire

Abstract
The paper analyzes Bertolt Brecht's play "The Good Person of Szechwan" and its critique of capitalism and the status of women in a capitalist society. The paper looks at Brecht's use of the mythological motif and explains how it pertains to fundamental principles of society. The paper highlights the message of the play, that the quest for virtue in a capitalist society must remain a paradox.

From the Paper
"Brecht's purpose is to show that capitalistic society is structured in such a way that limits and oppresses the female. Such critiques of society are usually structured in sociological or philosophical terms, but the author here employs the motif of mythology instead. Therefore, capitalism is said to have gods that, through their particular determinations, effect the fates of the citizens, mimicking the ways of the Olympian gods. Thus, in the earlier part of the play we are shown the deliberations of these gods regarding their project to establish virtue. They are shown to be concerned about a state of society that promotes greed and selfishness, and are worried that virtue will be completely extinguished from the world. They decide that if anybody can be found to be virtuous, that person must carry the responsibility of protecting virtue for society as a whole."

Tags:Shen, Ti, Shui, Ta, virtue, gods, females, society

Abstract
The paper shows how the primary influence that Mei Lanfang had on the western playwright Bertolt Brecht was extremely important in relation to the theory of the alienation effect. The paper evaluates the actor's detachment from the character, the fourth wall, and the objectivity of alienation in Mei's Chinese background in acting, and discusses how he played a large role in helping Brecht to realize his own theories on audience involvement.

Tags:brechtian, play, theater

Abstract
This paper discusses how Bertolt Brecht is justifiably famous as one of the greatest political dramatists and whose self-contradictory Marxist didactics have made him the subject of a love-hate relationship on both sides of the Marxist divide. It explores how a detailed scrutiny of his earliest works betrays a startling cognizance of his future developments and how, despite the fact that much of his later work was a direct response to world events, one finds that their nature, and, to some degree, the events that inspired them, can be found foretold in the umbra of his origins. In particular, it looks at how the metaphors and mythologies of Brecht's first play, "Baal", both predict, foreshadow, and, to some degree, determine the political atmosphere and ramifications of his future life and body of work.

From the Paper
"BAAL has also been heralded by many as a nigh-prophetic work in terms of its discussion of the logical extensions of decadence, of revolution, and of the artistic individual within the proletariat mass. This play addresses issues that would not be entirely raised until after the 2nd World War and not fully understood until well into the Cold Wars. Some insight into the way in which Brecht's earliest work addresses issues budding at the time of his death can be seen by comparing the original BAAL to a latter-day reworking of the play called The Dream Engine (a radical anarchist piece released at Amherst College in 1969 and heralded by some as the first true rock opera)."

Tags:marxism, god

Abstract
An analysis of Bertolt Brecht's "Mother Courage and Her Children," this book report delves into the themes of motherly love, sacrifice, survival, courage and heroism. A close analysis of the book, the relations between the characters, and the messages that author Brecht is sending the reader, this report in particular emphasizes the strength and admirable qualities of the main protagonists.

From the Paper
"Nothing tests our mettle better than adversity, and there is no adversity greater and more trying than war. This appears to underlie Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children, which is sharply and precisely set against the Thirty Years' War in certain parts of Sweden in 1624 and thereafter. Mother Courage's valor and grit in nurturing her children and sustaining them by keeping her selling business hefty or surviving have been told and re-told, but the undertones never wear out and continue to reverberate how this brave mother- woman- person's instinct to survive leads her to be more than herself in each stroke of tragedy. I view Brecht as proposing that the survival instinct will move a person to go quite far and do quite everything and anything in any way -- for those he or she loves and for himself or herself, or perish. I view Brecht's characters Mother Courage and son Eilif as standing firmly for this life as if it is all there is, and with Swiss Cheese and Kattrin doing something else out-of-time and out-of-this-world but more heroic and more memorable."

Tags:Sweden, history, Thirty Years' War, literature