Women in Brecht's Works

Author(s): Sara Lennox

Source: New German Critique, No. 14 (Spring, 1978), pp. 83-96
Published by: New German Critique
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/488062 .
Accessed: 05/10/2013 03:49

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .
http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.
JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of
content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms
of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

New German Critique and Duke University Press are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and
extend access to New German Critique.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Womenin Brecht'sWorks
by Sara Lennox

For feministswith an allegiance to Marxismthe case of Brecht is a

difficultone. Brechtis generallyconsideredby theLeftas thesinglewriter
whose works can be regarded, fromthe standpointof both formand
content,as authenticallyMarxist1-however thatconceptis understood.
One recallsthe scene in La Chinoisewhere,searchingfora writerofuse to
the revolutionarycause, the hero finallyerases every name from his
blackboard but Brecht's. Yet as one's feministconsciousnessdevelops,
one's discomfortwithBrechtincreases.In his personallife,Klaus Volker
has told us, Brecht was oftena veritablepillar of sexism: "He changed
women like his shirt."2A cursoryexaminationof Brecht'sworkssuggests
that related problemsexistin the portrayalof womenthere.What seems
necessary,then,is a closerexaminationof theimageof womenin Brecht's
work to ascertainthe degree to whichhe remainstrappedin stereotypes.
CynthiaGriffin Wolfhas observed:"When a societygivesitssanction,even
itspraise,to stereotypedimagesofwomanhood,thewomenwholiveinthat
societyformtheirownself-images A stereotype
accordingly. maybecome,by
a sort of perversity,an image of realitythateven women seek to perpe-
tuate."3 To also understandourselves and our lives as "changingand
changeable" (Brecht),we must,as a necessaryfirststepinfeminist analysis,
examineand criticizewomenfiguresintheworksofmalewriterslikeBrecht
in the lightof whatwe knowto be thereal historicalcapacitiesofwomenin
theirtimeand our own.
But feministcriticismdoes not exhaustitselfin decryingthe maltreat-
mentof women-in demanding,in effect,equal rightsforwomencharac-
ters. Not contentmerelyto redressinequities,feminismhas increasingly
emerged as an alternativeworldviewwhichadvances a morefundamental
critiqueboth of capitalismand manyvarietiesof socialism.A male writer's
treatmentof women and of the whole range of personalconcernswhich
feministsregardas importantmay thusserve as the basis fora more far-

1. See David Bathrick,"The DialecticsofLegitimation:Brechtin theGDR," NGC, (Spring

thisrelationship.
1974), 90-103,who differentiates
2. Klaus V1olker,BertoltBrecht:Eine Biographie(Munich, 1976), p. 51.
3. Cynthia GriffinWolf, "A Mirrorfor Men: Stereotypesof Women in Literature,"in
Woman: An Issue, ed. Lee R. Edwards,MaryHeath and Lisa Baskin (Boston, 1972),p. 207.

83

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
84 New German Critique

reachingcritiqueof hiswork.In thissense,ifBrechtshouldbe indictedas a

sexist, it is no trivialmatterwhichcan be dismissedby claimingthat"his
preoccupationswere different than ours." AdrienneRich's commentson
Freud are appropriatehere: "There is no suchthingas an intellectual'blind
spot' surroundedby an outlook of piercinglucidity-leastof all whenthat
spot happens to cover the immenseand complex dimensionsin which
womenexist,bothforourselvesand inthemindsofmen."4ShouldBrecht's
positionon women indeed proveto be problematic,thenfurther, farmore
difficult questionsmustbe addressed:to whatdegreedoes Brecht'soblivi-
ousness to women's issues affectthe statureof this male writerso often
regardedas exemplary?Or, to phrasethequestioneven moredrastically, to
whatdegree does Brecht'sfailureto considerissuesinvolvingtheliberation
of halfthe humanrace moregravelyimpairhisentireconceptionof human
liberation?For itis possiblethatBrecht'sliterary and personalutilizationof
womenas "demonstrationobjects," togetherwithhisgeneralneglectofthe
realm of personal life, may in fact indicatesomethingmore profoundly
wrongwiththe Marxisttraditionwhichhe has been takento represent.
My paper willthusattemptto investigatetheroleand function ofwomen
in Brecht'sworks.I willfirstexaminethepossibilitieshe allowshiswomen
characters,whethertheyconformto stereotypesof femalebehavioror are
permittedto expand beyond those restrictions. ThereuponI will examine
these characters in the lightof Brecht's own dramaturgyin order to
determinewhethertheyfulfillsome functionultimatelyemancipatoryfor
women. In bothcases I willpointout thelimitations inBrecht'scharacteriza-
tions of women. But I will argue finallythatBrecht'sworksalso contain,
thoughin rudimentary form,elementswhichpointbeyondhis limitations
withrespectto women'sconcerns.Unbeknownstto Brechtand contrary to
his conscious intentions,women in his workexerta subversivepotential,
pointingin directionsqualitativelydifferent fromthe positionBrechtcon-
sciouslyrepresented in his theoretical Brecht'swomenfigureswill
writings.
thusbe shownas double-edged.On theone handtheydemonstrate bothhis
blindnessto womenthemselvesand to a wholerangeofissueswhichwomen
have been takento represent.But simultaneously theycall fortha potential-
lyutopiandimensionwhichmightbe elaboratedin contemporary reutiliza-
tionsof his works.
What imageof women,then,can we derivefromBrecht'swork?5To an

4. Adrienne Rich, Of WomanBorn: Motherhoodas Experienceand Institution (New York,

1976), pp. 201-202.
5. Three dissertationshave been writtenon womenin Brecht'swork:MaryJ.Cronin,"The
Politics of Brecht's Women Characters,"Diss. Brown, 1974; Aija Kuplis, "The Image of
Women in BertoltBrecht'sPoetry,"Diss. Wisconsin-Madison,1976;LaureenKleinNussbaum,
"The Image of Woman in the Workof BertoltBrecht,"Diss. Washington,1977. Thoughall
threeauthorsrepresenta positionmuchdifferent frommine,I am greatlyindebtedto themfor
many insightsand for the thoroughnesswithwhichtheyhave surveyedthe problem.The
organizationWoman in German also sponsoreda special sessionon "Women Figuresin the

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Womenin Brecht'sWorks 85

overwhelmingdegreewomenin Brechtmovewithinparametersfamiliarto
us fromtheworksofothermalewriters:conceivedalmostwithoutexception
in termsoftheirrelationshipto men,theyare partialand narrow,displaying
onlyto a verylimitedextentthecomplexity and capabilitiesofrealwomenin
Brecht's time. The earliestwomen depictedin Brecht'sworkare mother
figures,shownprimarily in theirrelationshipto theirsons. In one ofBrecht's
earliestshortstories,"The Motherand Death," a womandies in childbirth;
mothers mourningtheir dead sons occur frequentlyin his poetryfrom
World War One. Women in the earlyplaysare moreoftenshownas men's
sexual partners,the functionof most of the women in Baal, of Anna in
Drums in theNight,ofJaneand Marie inIn theJungleof Cities.Not even as
sex partnersare women in the earlyworksaccordedequal rights;theyare
regardedas sex objects and/oras burdensto theirlover,weighinghimdown
withreproachesand unwantedchildren,possiblywiththeresponsibility for
theirsuicides. If women are allowed to deal calculatinglywiththeirown
sexuality,theyfunctionas figuresof satire,as inA ReaderFor Those Who
Live in Cities,as WidowBegbick,and evenPollyPeachuminsome respects.
Brechtalso failsto individualizethefemalesex partnerat all - she is simply
"the Other," to use Simone de Beauvoir's term.Yet his womengenerally
respondpositivelyto brutaltreatment on thepartoftheirmen,or even find
itseductivein a positivesense. (PirateJennyno doubtan exception).When
Brechtdeals withwomen moresympathetically, as in "The Legend of the
Harlot Evlyn Roe" or "Of theInfanticide Marie Farrar,"he seems to view
the tragedyof theirsituationin theirincapacity,because of the conditions
under which they exist, to performtheirroles properly:Evlyn Roe is
appreciatedneitherbythepiratesnorbyGod forhersexualdedication,and
Marie Farrar is drivento murderher childratherthan functionas a true
motherforit. Praise forwomen comes accordinglywhentheyact as these
roles prescribe:a satisfactory mother,wifeor life
mistress,a self-sacrificing
companion. Brecht's response to a more emancipatedwoman,on theother
hand, is indicatedin a poem from 1922; sweatbreaksout on thepoet's brow
whenhe considersherqualities:"She tookthingsseriously.She didn'tfloat.
She thought."6
But ifwomen are use objects to menin theearlyworks,theyare at least
conceived withina frameworkof existentialconcernsrelevantto women's
lives: the earlyBrechttook issuesof sexual politicsseriously.For feminists
who are able to read past the sexismof the earlyworks,these worksare
interesting because oftheirproximity to concreteexperience.Particularlyin
thethreeearlyplays,Brechttookhimselfand hischaractersseriouslyas men
and portrayedthe contradictionsand dilemmas of real sensual human
relationships,seen thoughtheyare throughhis male biases. WithBrecht's

Works of Brecht" at the 1976 MLA, at whichpapers were presentedby Laureen Nussbaum,
Dagmar Lorenz and myself.
6. BertoltBrecht,GesammelteWerke1 (Frankfurt am Main, 1967), 108.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
86 New German Critique

developmentto Marxism,the mostdistressing aspectsof his sexismdisap-

pear, but simultaneouslyhis worksincreasingly removewomen fromthe
realityof personallife.In theMarxistworkswomenare abstract,"model"
figures,distantfromtheconcernsoftheirown lives.Theyare no longerused
sexually by Brecht's male characters,but now become use objects for
Brecht'sdidacticisminstead.(If itis true,as a numberof criticsassert,that
Brecht'sinitialconcernwithmajorwomenfigurestookplace in responseto
the KPD's desireto drawmorewomenintotheParty,thetendencytoward
the objectificationof women becomes even more glaring,in a very
pragmaticsense.) The disappearance of the woman as sex object in the
matureworksoccurs,as FritzRaddatz pointedout severalyearsago, at the
cost of a de-eroticizationof womenaltogether.7
Accordingly,the two conceptionsof womenwhichprevailin Brecht's
laterworksare thestereotypical figuresof themotherand thechild-woman
(sometimes subsumed in a single figure,for instanceDumb Kattrinor
Grusche). The mother is then viewed in an expanded sense. As "false"
mothershe is selflessand self-sacrificingbutonlyforthewelfareof herown
children- Shen Te aftershe discoversherpregnancy,or MotherCourage,
thoughwithsomewhatmoreambivalence.The "true" mother,on theother
hand, considersthewelfareofall children,becomingthena modelofsortsof
a communistethos- the Mother,Frau Carrar,themotherfigurein many
poems fromthe 1930sand 1940s.8 Yet whatis significant is thatshe remains
foremosta mother,selflessand dedicatedonlyto theneeds of others,even
as a communist,as Brecht's rathergrotesque remarkson the Mother
indicate:
StillMother
Even moreMothernow,Motherofthemanyfallen,
Motherofthestruggling, Motheroftheunborn, shenow
Cleansup thegovernment. Putsstonesintotherulers'
Extortedmeal.Cleansweapons.Teaches
Her manysonsanddaughters thelanguageofstruggle
Againstwarand exploitation,member ofan armedforce
Acrossthewholeplanet,persecuted andpersecutor
Beatenandinexorable.9
Not toleratedand intolerant.
A major virtueof thismotherfigureis her willingnessto be instrumental-
ized serving others while ignoringher own subjective needs. Walter
Benjamin's commenton the play - "If the mothersare revolutionized,
there is nothingleftto revolutionize"10- may indeed be true. From a
feministperspective,however,thatrevolutionizinghas not been accomp-

7. Fritz Raddatz, "Ent-weiblichteEschatologie: Bertolt Brechts

revolutionirerGegen-
mythos,"in Textund Kritik:BertoltBrechtSonderbandII, ed. Heinz L. Arnold(Munich,1973),
pp. 152-159.
8. I owe thisdistinctionto Aija Kuplis, p. 227.
9. Brecht,GW 17, 1054.
10. WalterBenjamin, Understanding Brecht,trans.Anna Bostock (London, 1973),p. 34.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Women in Brecht's Works 87

lished in Brecht'splay.
The case of the child-womanis a more complicatedone. On first
observation such women may appear especially heroic: Johanna Dark,
Simone Machard,Kattrin,thesixteen-year-old seamstressEmma Ries, who
defies her interrogatorby singing the International.But Brecht has
accomplisheda certainsleightofhandhere,makinghischaractersyounger,
more naive, sometimeseven less intelligent thanalmostanymale figurein
his works. (The Young Comrade in The Measures Taken is a notable
exception, possessingmanyof the virtuesand defectsof Brecht'swomen
figures.)Brecht then achieves moving,if somewhatsentimental,literary
effectsbyallowingsuchuntalentedcharactersto overcometheirdeficiencies
and rise to heroicacts - Kattrindrumsthe cityawake, Simone sets fireto
the gasoline reserves. But the appearance of heroicismexists precisely
because Brechtis playingon femalestereotypes;as he remarkedon Kattrin:
"Here themosthelplessone is willingto help.""11 Ifhe had allowedhischild-
women fromthebeginningto possess thecapabilitiesofadultwomen,their
deeds would have diminishedcorrespondingly in theeyes of the audience.
Likewise, JohannaDark functionsconvincingly as a naive supporterof the
ideological statusquo because she possessesthestereotypical featuresofthe
child-woman:she is young,irresolute,nurturing, idealistic,"good." Wo-
men like JohannaDark, or in a somewhatdifferent sense Pellagea Wlasso-
wa, are thus particularlyapt vehiclesforBrecht'sMarxist"consciousness
raising" because of the distance they must travel from ignorance to
knowledge.12But theirutilityfor Brecht's drama existsat the cost of a
portrayalof themas womenwithqualitiesand concernsfromthe realmof
theirown lives.
It is possible, of course, to findisolatedfiguresin Brecht'sworkwhose
portrayalis relativelyconsistentwith a feministanalysis. Minor figures
mightbe foundsuchas thefemaletractordriverintheprologueto TheCauca-
sian Chalk Circle,or JudithKeithin Fear and Miseryof theThirdReich.13A
more central characteroccurs in The Trial of Jeanned'Arc at Rouen,
particularlyremarkablesince Jeanne,in contrastto Brecht'sotherJoanof
Arc figures,is portrayedas a matureand responsibleyoungwoman. (But
perhapsthismoreaccurateportrayalofthefemaleherois relatedto Brecht's
source,theradioplayofthesame titlebyAnna Seghers.)The belovedofthe
1930s love poems is generallyportrayedas a serious, matureadult who
possesses equal rightsintheloveaffair- thoughofcourseshe isseen onlyin
relationshipto the male poet and throughhis eyes. Alternatively, one can
findfarworseexamplesofsexisminBrecht.For instance,Azdak's verdictin
the rape trialof The Caucasian Chalk Circle,vindicating a stableboyof his
11. WernerHecht,ed., Materialienzu Brechts'MutterCourageundIhreKinder'(Frankfurt
am
Main, 1964), p. 49.
12. Mary Cronin makes a similarpoint,p. 101.
13. But see Helen Fehervary,"Enlightenmentor Entanglement:Historyand Aestheticsin
BertoltBrechtand Heiner Miller," NGC, 8 (Spring1976), 106-107.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
88 New German Critique

responsibility forrape because of theseductiveappearanceof hisvictim,is

uncomfortably reminiscent ofJudgeSimonson'ssimilarrulinginMadison.14
Significant here, however, are not the few examples of redemptiveor
particularly repulsiveportrayals ofwomenwhichcan be foundinBrecht,but
whatthefederalagenciesresponsibleforenforcing would
equal opportunity
call "a consistentpatternof sex discrimination."On thiscount,Brecht's
biases seem clear.
It is not at all contradictory that,on theone hand,Brechtis demonstra-
blyso insensitiveto thequalitiesand needs ofreal womenand,on theother
hand, he uses female figuresas the spokespersonor embodimentof the
centralpoliticalidea of theindividualwork.MaryCroninhas shownin her
dissertationthatthe positionassumed by Brecht'swomenfiguresafterhis
turnto Communismreflectsin each case CommunistPartypolicyat that
particularhistoricalmoment. Her insightwould seem to documentthe
criticalimportancewhichBrechtassignsto his femalefigures,andto belie
the chargeof sexismagainsthim. Yet thispattern,too, is a familiarone in
stereotypicalportrayalsof women. Women are debased to the level of
childrenor sex objects, and shownto act mainlyon interests determinedby
theirbiologicalconstitution (e.g., as mothers);yetsimultaneouslytheymay
be elevated into incorporationsof ideals whichmen project onto them.
(Gretchen in Goethe's Faust is a good example of thissyndrome:women
consideredsimultaneouslyas Eve and Maria.) "Man feminizestheideal he
sets up before him as the essentialOther, because woman is the material
representationof alterity:thatis whyalmostall allegories,in languageas in
pictorialrepresentation,are women,"15Simonede Beauvoirhas observed;
hence, she continues, "a Manichaeism is introducedin the heart of
womankind."16But thisdrasticpolarizingofwomen'straitsis possibleonly
because men have seen, not real women,buta femininemythof theirown
invention.
It is, of course, always a riskybusinessto attemptto psychoanalyzea
writer,to attemptto adduce his psychologicalmotivefor the choice of
certain characters and themes. When, however, these charactersand
themes are shared by a greatmanywriters,the analysisis less a matterof
uncoveringindividual psychologicalpeculiaritiesthan of discerningthe
causes forpsychologicaltraitsgenerallyheld throughoutthe culture.The
patternin Brecht'sportrayalof femalefiguresis so familiar,so frequently
encounteredin othermale writers,thatone can attemptto applyto it the
more general theoriesof recentfeministwriterslike DorothyDinnerstein

14. In May, 1977JudgeArchieSimonsonsuggestedfromthebenchthata teenageboyinvolved

in a gang rape in a school stairwellin Madison, Wisconsin,had reacted "normally"to
provocativedress and sexual permissiveness.In Wisconsin'sfirstjudicial recallelectionthe
followingSeptember,Simonsonwas defeatedoverwhelmingly bya womanlawyerrunning with
the strongsupportof local feminists.
15. Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, trans.H. M. Parshley(New York, 1961) p. 167.
16. Ibid., p. 179.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Women in Brecht's Works 89

and Nancy Chodorow, who argue that the roots of male oppressionof
women lie in earlychildhoodexperiences.Whatseemsclearin Brechtis his
desire to inventonlywomenwho are notpowerfulenoughto threatenmen,
particularlywiththeirindependentsexuality:hence his women are either
mothersselflesslydedicatedto thewelfareoftheirsons (and sexuallytaboo
because of theirmaternalstature)or childrenwho are too young,innocent,
stupid,and virginalto functionas men'sequals. DorothyDinnersteinrelates
thisgeneralattitudeof our cultureto theinfant'sexperienceofthemother's
overwhelmingpower: "The independentsexual impulsivity of the female,
then,is fearedbecause it recallstheterrifying eroticindependenceofevery
baby's mother.To soothethefear,we subordinateEve's lustto Adam's, but
this cure only makes the sicknessworse: subordinate,Eve's lust is more
frightening still.'"17Interestingly,
severalpsychoanalytic analysesof image-
ry in Brecht's early poetry seem to substantiate Brecht's discomfort with
femalesexuality.Carl Pietzckercomments:"Desire forincestand thethreat
of castrationalso lead, when the 'poetic I' in theworkof theyoungBrecht
regressesto the phallic-narcissistic stage, to Don Juanism.The lovermust
again and again provehimselfwithnewwomenbehindall ofwhomhe seeks
the mother .... Into the place of the repressedmothersteps the infinite
series of mistresses,who are all forgotten again because none satisfiesthe
demand forlove, and because Don Juanfearshe willbe abandoned; which
he anticipatesby runningaway Arnold Heidsieck assertsthat
himself.'"18
Brechtresolvedhis fearof the mother'swithdrawalof love by creatingthe
figureof the Mother, "the ideal image of a motherwho even beyondthe
death of herson remainstrueto himand hiscause."l19The conflictbetween
motherand son is resolvedthroughtheircommondedicationto "the third
thing,"communism.But as attractiveas Brecht- or leftist parties- might
findso impossiblyselflessa womanfigure Pellagea Wlassowa,hissolution
as
to thewoman'sproblemhereis onlya literary one. His conceptionofwomen
as figureswilling,to theneglect of theirown subjectiveconcerns,to be used
a
by cause in which they are totallysubsumed,remainsa male fantasy
projection which failsto take women's own needs intoaccount.
Now, it is possible thatthe reader who has followedimpatiently to this
be
pointmay shakinghis/her head in dismay.He/shemightobject thatall of
theseobservationsabout Brecht'sworksmayindeedbe true,yettheanalysis
itselfdemonstratesa fatalwrongheadedness,an applicationof criteriato
Brecht which displays a total misunderstanding of the principlesof his
drama. Is, perhaps,to measureBrecht'swomenagainstwomenin thereal
world not to apply to him the criteriaof bourgeoisrealism,or even more

17. DorothyDinnerstein,The Mermaidand The Minotaur:Sexual Arrangements and Human

Malaise (New York, 1976), p. 62.
18. Carl Pietzcker,Die LyrikdesjungenBrecht:VomanarchischenNihilismuszum Marxismus
(Frankfurtam Main, 1974), pp. 286-287.
19. Arnold Heidsieck, "PsychologischeStrukturenim Werk BertoltBrechtsbis 1932," in
Studienzur Literatur:Essays II, ed. VolkmarSander (Bern, 1975), p. 64.
Ideologiekritische

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
90 New German Critique

directly,to seek after"positiveheroes" on theorderof thosefoundin the

worstsocialistrealism?Would not a more perceptiveanalysisunderstand
thatBrechtuses womenin a parabolicsense,and thathischaractersare not
intendedto functionas mirrorsof existingrealitybut insteadto encourage
the transformation of thatreality?Brechtwroteof characterportrayal,for
instance: "A numberof simplifications are necessaryin orderto show the
attitudeof theplay's charactersclearlyenoughforthespectatorto graspall
its political Furthermore, manyof hismale figurespossess
implications.'"20
similarlystereotypicalfeatures:one thinksofAzdak, Galileo, Puntila.(Or,
as several of my criticshave remarkedto me, "Brecht may be nastyto
women,but he's nastyto men,too.") To be justto Brecht,then,an analysis
of histreatmentofwomenwouldhave to applyto hisworksa criticalmethod
appropriate to his own radical principles.It is in fact possible to apply
Brecht'sown criteriaforassessingliterature to histreatment ofwomen.But
what this analysiswill show as well is an analogous blindnessto the real
conditionswhichconstitutewomen'sexistence- a blindnesswhichseems
to be an importantdramaturgical as well as politicalfaultin hisplays.
Brecht reiteratesagain and again in his theoreticalwritingsthat his
theateris intendedto showtheworldas changingand changeable.He wishes
to "alienate" eventsand characterson thestageso thattheyare seen to be,
not natural and inevitable,but historicaland transitory."The spectator
need no longer see the human beings presentedon the stage as being
unchangeable,unadaptable,and handedoverhelplessto fate.Whathesees is
thatthishumanbeingis thusand so because conditionsare thusand so. And
conditionsare thusand so because conditionsare thusand so. The human
being, however,is capable of beingpresentednotonlyin thisway,as he is,
but in otherways also; conditions,too, are capable of beingpresentedin
other ways than as theyare. As a resultof thisthe spectatorhas a new
attitudein the theatre.He has the same attitudetowardsthe imagesof the
humanworldoppositehimon thestagewhichhe, as a humanbeing,has had
towardsnatureduringthiscentury.He is also welcomedintothetheatreas
the greatreformer,one who is capable of comingto gripswiththe natural
and social processes,one who no longermerelyacceptstheworldpassively
but who masters gainedan insightintothesocial forceswhich
it.'"21Having
have produced his/her own situation,the spectatoris then prepared to
interveneactivelyto transform it. As theconclusionto The Motherputsit:
"Who can restrainthe man who sees his situation?"22
Brecht'sdramaturgicalintentionsas summarizedabove, are, of course,
widelyrecognized.Yet whathas not been observedis thedegreeto which
20. Brecht,GW 17, 1051,translationin Brechton Theatre,ed. and trans.JohnWillett(New
York, 1964), p. 83.
21. Brecht,GW 15, 302; translationin "On the ExperimentalTheatre," trans.Carl Richard
Mueller, Tulane Drama Review,6, no. 1 (September,1961), 14-15.
22. Brecht,GW 2, 895; translationin The Mother,trans.Lee Baxandall (New York, 1965),p.
131.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Women in Brecht's Works 91

Brechtfailsto applyhis own criteriato aspectsof social relationships in his

workswhichpertainto women'slivesand women'soppression.The roleand
statusofwomenin Brecht'sworksare notproblematizedlikeotherformsof
human relationships,but are simplypresentedas if theywere natural.
Though the audience mayparticipatein a learningprocesswithrespectto
the mutabilityof many formsof social relationships,the plays do not
challengein any fundamentalway existingformsof humansexual arrange-
ments.Even in termsofhisowntheoryofdrama,Brecht'splayswouldseem
to be perpetuatingwomen'soppressionin thesame waythatthebourgeois
theaterperpetuateshumanand particularly workingclassoppression.What
might be asked in addition is the degree whichBrecht'stheateris even
to
of
capable addressing certain women's issues,orwhethertheyare nota priori
excluded by the principlesof his dramaturgy. It is evidentthatthe private
realm was not a major concernof Brecht'sdrama. Though theremay be
good historicalreasons forhis remarkthat"it was no longerpossible. . .to
gain a vision fromthe relationshipof a man to a womanwhichwas strong
enough to bear an entiredrama,"23the dismissalof male-femalerelation-
ships as a major dramaturgicalsubject means that numerousaspects of
women's lives will not be considered. Even more importantly,as the
quotationin thepreviousparagraphindicates,theresponseBrechtseeks to
elicitfromhisviewersis indebtedto thescientific paradigmwhichdemandsa
cool, dispassionateweighingof the evidence. But the scientificparadigm
also derivesfromtheneeds and structures ofthecapitalistworkprocessand
does notadhere to theshape and rhythms ofwomen'slives.Thus,ifBrecht's
dramaturgydoes not permitexpressive,need-orientedbehaviorto disrupt
dispassionateinstrumental activityitmaynoteven be capable of addressing
the mostprofoundissuesofwomen'slives.In anycase, as longas womenin
Brecht'sdrama are regardedas demonstration objects ratherthansubjects
in theirown right,itis unlikelythattheirreal subjectiveneeds willbe taken
into account.
A fewexamplesmayillustratethefailureofBrecht'sdramain confront-
ing women's issues. In The Caucasian Chalk Circle Brechtundertakesa
redefinition ofmotherhood.The truemotheris no longershewho has borne
the child, but she who is mostusefulto it: "What thereis shallgo to those
who are good forit,/Childrento the motherly,thattheyprosper."24Yet
what is not broughtinto question withinthe play at all is the sex of the
mother,whichis simplytakento be female.Brecht'snotesto theplay,which
speak of"motherlyinstincts,"showevenmoreclearlythe"natural"alliance
he believedexistedbetweenwomenand motherliness, whichmay,however,
be thwartedby adverse social conditions:"The motherlyinstinctof the

23. Fritz Sternberg,Der Dichterund die Ratio: Erinnerungen

an BertoltBrecht(G6ttingen,
1965), p. 8.
24. Brecht,GW 5, 2105; translationin ParablesfortheTheatre:Two Plays by BertoltBrecht,
trans. Eric Bentley(Minneapolis, 1965), p. 182.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
92 New German Critique

peasant woman, who accepts the foundlingchild against the will of her
husband, is limitedand conditional.She betraysit to the police. (Even the
motherinstinctof Grusche,so muchgreater,so verygreat,is limitedand
conditional:she wantsto bringthechildto safetyand thengiveitaway.)"25
No men in the play are shown to possess motherlyfeelingsin any way
analogous to thoseof suchwomenfigures.The presentsexualarrangement
of childcareis thuspresentedas a naturalone, thoughin thesocietyBrecht
envisionsit may no longerderivefromthe factof givingbirth.
The Good Person of Setzuan is a more complicatedcase. In thisplay,
originallyentitled "Die Ware Liebe" ("True Love/CommodityLove")
Brecht seems clearlyto considerproblemscloselyconnectedwithgender.
Shen Te's goodness - her generosity,kindness, nurturance- are
closely tied to her femalesex, and onlyin male guise is she able to assert
herselfsufficiently to preventher own exploitationand act to her own
economic and personaladvantage.Nevertheless,sinceitis Shen Te herself
who incorporatesthismale self-interest, Brechtseems to be indicatingthat
such sex-related differencesare tied more to the social expectations
accompanyinggenderthanto anynaturaldifferentiation bysex inpsycholo-
gical characteristics.Yet afterthispromisingbeginning,whichmighthave
permittedall mannerofcommenton thespecificoppressionexperiencedby
women,Brechtdoes notpursuetheissue further.26 Shen Te is nevershown
to be capable of pursuingself-interest openly as a female. Furthermore,
once she discoversherown pregnancyshe become so selflessa motherthat
she is willingultimatelyto sacrificeherown goodnesstowardsothers- a
definingcharacteristic thewelfareof herson: "To
of her self-identity-for
be good to you, myson/I shallbe a tigressto all others/If I have to./And I
shall have to."27Thus, as Brechtdoes notallow hisaudienceto reflectupon
the historicalcauses of sex-linkedpsychologicaltraits,his spectatorsagain
are leftconfirmedin theirbeliefthatsuch stereotypicalmale and female
behavior is naturalto the sexes.
Saint Joan of the Stockyardscan provide a finalexample of Brecht's
failureto "alienate" women's presentqualities in the same way that he
"alienates" other human qualities and activitiesof the period. Johanna
Dark is amongthecharacterswholearnsthemostin Brecht'sworks,and her

25. Brecht,GW 17, 1209.

26. Marc Zimmermann'sanalysisofthe"intents"oftheplaywithrespecttotheissueofgender
is themostgenerousto BrechtI have seen: he believesthattheplaywishes"to showthat,under
capitalism,theefforts ofwoman(as repository goodnessand sacrifice)to realize
of non-egoistic
herqualitiescan onlysurfacein termsofa 'male principle'ofegoisticaggressivitywhichdistorts
that realization. . .and, thus, to show that the man/womanpolarityis simplyanother
ideological instrumentof capitalism,and that only by mergingthe 'life-affirming' values
imputed to women with the 'achievement'values ascribed to men can the polaritiesbe
transcendedand revolutionary movementbegin" ("Brechtand the Dynamicsof Production,"
Praxis, 3 (1976), 119). This analysisseems stillto regardthe women's issue as a "secondary
contradiction"withincapitalism.
27. Brecht,GW 4, 1573; translationin Bentley,p. 72.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Womenin Brecht'sWorks 93

thirstforknowledgehas led criticsto compareher to a femaleFaust. Yet

what Johannadoes not learn, or even consider,is the role thather own
genderhas played in leadingher intothesituationin whichtheplayinserts
her- thoughbyplacinga femalefigurein thiscentralroleBrechtseemsto
be askingthather sex be takenseriously.(Consider,forinstance,whatour
reactionmightbe ifBrechthad chosento make theplay'scentralcharactera
black person. Our contemporarysensitivities, at least, would requirethat
Brecht acknowledgethe special kind of oppressionexperiencedby Third
Worldpeople.) Moreover,theJeanned'Arc figureitselfseemsto cryout for
sucha treatment, sincetheoriginalmaterialis weightedwithissuespertaining
to sexualoppressionand sexualprerogatives: one ofthemajorreasonsforthe
negative verdict against thehistoricalJeanne d'Arc was herwearingofmale
in
apparel. Though many of his adaptationsBrechtemphasizespolitical
dimensionsonlyimplicitintheoriginal,fromthismaterialhe removesissues
of sexual politicswhichare alreadypresent.Here again he simplypresents
Johanna's charactertraitsas given, as natural: her timidgoodness, her
innocenceand naivete,her fearof violence,her lack of self-interest. Thus,
though Johanna learns that,with to
respect capitalism,"Only forcehelps
where forcerules,"28she, and womenspectators,do not learntheapplica-
bilityof thisstatementto theirown situationas women.
This analysiswould seem to suggest,then,thatBrecht'sdrama failsto
take concernsof women's liberationintoaccount,and thattheirexclusion
mayderivein partfromtheveryprinciplesofBrechtiantheater.Moreover,
Brecht'sdismissalof a varietyof issuesfromthepersonalrealmleads us to
question the validityof some of the theoreticalinsightson which his
dramaturgyis based. At thispointthefeminist critiqueof Brechtintersects
with the critique,recentlyraised in otherquarters,of whatis termedhis
"productivistethos." David Bathrickcommentson a poem writtenby
Brecht in 1951: " 'The Rearing of Millet' is informedby a productivist
optimismwhichstillexistsas a centralingredient insocialistmythsaboutthe
forces of production solving all human problems. Such reductionto
productivismwas also a partof Brecht'sMarxismfromitsverybeginning.
Writingin Me-Ti, Brechtonce said: 'I have notfoundmany"Thou Shalt"
sentences that I desire to express. I mean by thatsentencesof a general
nature thatare directedtowardthe General. However one such sentence
would be: 'Thou shaltproduce.' "29 This attitudeon Brecht'spartis linked
to an instrumentalism whichextendseven to humanrelationshipsas in his
conception of love as a relationshipin which the lovers instructand
"produce" each other,or in The Caucasian Chalk Circlewhichlinksthe
mother'susefulnessto herchildto humanexploitationofnature:"Children
to the motherly,that theyprosper,/Carts to good drivers,that theybe

28. Brecht, GW, 2, 783; translationin Saint Joan of the Stockyards,trans. Frank Jones
(Bloomington, 1969), p. 122.
29. David Bathrick,"ConcerningLegends," NGC, (Fall 1976), 140.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
94 New German Critique

driven well,/The valley to the waterers,that it yield fruit."30Reinhold

Grimmsuggeststhatthisimageof naturalwaterscontrolledand channelled
to meet human needs pervades Brecht's work and in factderives from
Freud's Civilizationand its Discontents.31 If he is correct,thenthe image
makes an even moreexplicitcommenton therepressionoflibidinalenergies
whichBrecht'sconceptionof productivity implies.Furthermore, a concep-
tion of human relationshipswhich so abstractsfromconcrete,sensual
human needs throwsinto question the legitimacyof Brecht'svision of
human liberationaltogether.
We mightask in addition(thoughone raisesa critiqueofthismagnitude
withgreathesitancy)to whatdegreethisproblemis notjustthatofBrechtor
of Marxist orthodoxy. One mightargue that the neglect of women's
concernsis notjusta historicaloversight ofsomesortwhichleftist partiesare
now hasteningto remedy,but a problemwhichmay go to the roots of
Marxisttheoryitself.Though Marx and Engels (more thanmanyof their
successors) considered problems of women's oppression,theirthought
reveals its historicallimitations,as Sheila Rowbothamhas pointedout, by
regardingwomen as objects to be liberatedby thecourseof historyrather
thanas subjectsoftheirown revolutionary activity.32 Even moreimportant-
ly,sinceEngels' The OriginoftheFamily,PrivateProperty and theState,the
answer to the "woman question" has been seen as coming by way of
women's integrationinto the productionprocess - a solution which
sidestepsbothwomen'sdilemmasand theirmoreprofoundinsightsintothe
natureof theirown problems.For, thoughmanywomenworkoutsidethe
home, their ideological affiliationhas always been to home, family,and
privatelife- and itis preciselythispsychologicaldistancefromproduction
and thestructures ofsocial relationships itdemandswhichhas allowedthem
to raise their far-reachingcriticismof both capitalismand socialism.
Feministsmightargue then,as JeanBaudrillardhas alreadypostulated,33
that Marxismhas too readilyaccepted the categoriesof the verysystemit
wishesto overthrow,thusthwarting itsown impulsestowardsliberation.By
insistingon the importanceof drastically different formsofhumanrelation-
ships whichtheyderive fromthe experiencesof theirown lives,feminists
may provide an importantcorrectiveto conceptionsof Marxismhitherto
prevalent.The intersection ofMarxismand feminism thusinvolvesfarmore
than male leftists'tardy recognitionof women's rightsand women's
problems. It may even demand a far-reachingreassessmentof certain
fundamentalprinciplesof Marxismitself.

30. Brecht,GW 5, 2105; translationin Bentley,p. 182.

31. Reinhold Grimm,"Notizen zu Brecht,Freud und Nietzsche,"Brecht-Jahrbuch 1974,ed.
JohnFuegi, Reinhold Grimmand JostHermand(Frankfurt am Main, 1975),pp. 46-48.
32. Sheila Rowbotham, Women, Resistanceand Revolution: A Historyof Women and
Revolutionin theModernWorld(New York, 1974),pp. 59-77.I owe thisreferenceto Margaret
Cerullo. I would also like to thankher forhelp in developingthisanalysis.
33. Jean Baudrillard,The Mirrorof Production,trans.Mark Poster(St. Louis, 1975).

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 Womenin Brecht'sWorks 95

Strangelyenough, because of their very contradictoriness Brecht's

works may be of assistancein this attemptat a largerreassessment.For
neitherBrecht's sexism nor the productivism whichmanyMarxistshave
recently stressedin hiswork is the final
truthabout Brecht.A morecomplete
analysis of Brecht's relevance to feministsmight draw on a remarkby Silvia
Bovenschen on the functionof stereotypical images womenin worksby
of
men: "Amazingly,itseemsthateven thoseimagesoffemininity constructed
by men or bythe male artindustry are turningagainsttheircreatorsin ever
increasingnumbers.Having become mere commonplacemyths,theyare
steppingout of theirmolds,out of theirliterary or filmiccontexts.I believe
thattheirmetamorphosisis notonlytheresultofthenewinterpretation and
effecttheynow have, due to the influenceof thewomen'smovement.It is
muchmoredependentupon thefactthatan elementoffemaleresistance,if
only a passive one, has always contributedto artisticproduction."34A
feministanalysisof Brechtwhichperceivessuch positivemomentsin his
works would thus be makingan assessmentof Brechtnot unlikeEngels'
judgmenton Balzac. Because ofhisartistry, thoughagainsthisintention and
interests,Brechtwas nonethelesscompelledto capturesome truthsabout
women in his works. Furthermore,Brecht's use of women, beyond the
sexism of his portrayal,insertsa furtherutopiandimensioninto his work
which was also against his conscious intentions.By examiningBrecht's
treatmentof women, feministsmay thus discover a way to reutilize
(umfunktionieren) Brechtin a waywhichpointsbeyondhisownpoliticsto a
widerconceptionof socialistfeminism(or weiblicherSozialismus).
Counterposed to Brecht's explicit conception of instrumentality in
human relationshipsto each other and to natureis an alternativevision
beyond the narrowlygoal-oriented,and thisvisionis usuallyembodied in
women. Shen Te and Gruschesuccumbto temptations ofgoodness,though
they realize in
that, manyrespects,they are foolishlyactingagainsttheir
own interests.ShenTe is fora timepreparedto followherloverdespitewhat
she knowsabout him:"I wantto go withthemanI love/I don'twantto count
the cost/I don't wantto considerifit'swise/I don'twantto knowifhe loves
me/ I want to go withthe man I love."35 Johanna,Kattrin,Simone are
admirable, if foolish,preciselybecause theyfailto act in ways whichare
rational and calculating.Similarly,Gruscheassumes the care of the child
though it may mean her death. Particularlythis utopian projection is
embodied in mothers,theirrelationshipto theirchilda totalkindofhuman
commitmentwhich transcendsany sort of instrumental rationality.And
this, no doubt, is one reason whyBrechtso oftenembodied the political
ideal of the particularhistoricalmomentin a woman figure-thoughthe
vision towardswhichhe was gropingunawares,goes farbeyondanything
ever conceived by the CommunistParty. Despite its sexist overtones,

34. Silvia Bovenschen, "Is There a FeminineAesthetic?"NGC, 10 (Winter1977), 125.

35. Brecht,GW 4, 1552; translationin Bentley,p. 61.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
96 New German Critique

Brecht's perceptionof women as representing an alternativeto prevailing

relationships has itsbasis in thereal, materialexperiencesofwomen'slives,
as feministsare beginningto discover.Elsewherein thisissue,forinstance,
UlrikeProkop has arguedthatfemale"production"- thatis, thekindsof
workwhichwomenperform:childcare,housework- represents an alterna-
if in
tive, only rudimentary form, to male forms of labor and behavior.
Women have developed and preserved a mode of behavior which is
expressive, non-instrumental, and need- ratherthan goal-oriented.This
behavior,as Brechtrecognizes,expressesitselfmostclearlyin the mother-
child relationshipwhich, despite the repressiveformsit assumes in the
presentsociety,nonethelessassertsitselfas a protestagainstand a possibil-
itybeyond patriarchyand capitalism.
Our final judgmenton Brecht may read, then, somethinglike this.
Perhaps, drivenby a terrorof women like thatpossessed by manymen,
Brecht was unable to see real women in theirfulldimensions,and was
particularlyunable to acknowledgetheirsexual power. His works thus
succeed in portrayingonly by means of the usual stereotypes,though
somewhatmodifiedbyhiswiderpoliticalconcerns.Likewise,hisworksmay
urge us to perceive the changeabilityof society as far as capitalismis
concerned,buttheyare obliviousto thenecessity,or eventhepossibility, of
a change in women's condition,and theygenerallyfailto recognizethat,as
feministsinsist,the personalis also political.These chargesagainstBrecht
are not to be taken lightly.But throughthe interstices of his workwomen
nonethelessassert theirrefusalto participatein the ethos whichBrecht
believes he is propounding.A feminist reutilization
ofBrechtappropriateto
the historicalneeds of our period mustthus explore and emphasizethe
positive and progressivemoments in his vision of alternativehuman
arrangements,whileconsigninghissexismto thehistoricaltrashheapwhere
it belongs.

This content downloaded from 192.236.36.29 on Sat, 5 Oct 2013 03:49:41 AM

All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions