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

Murphy, G. Ronald

Brecht and the Bible : A Study of Religious Nihilism and Human Weakness in Brecht's Drama of Morality and the City - Chapel Hill The University of North Carolina Press 1980 - 1 electronic resource (122 p.)

Open Access

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.


Creative Commons


English

9781469656755_Murphy

10.5149/9781469656755_Murphy doi


Literary studies: plays & playwrights

German studies Literature Theatre and Drama