PLOT OVERVIEW
- 2 villages arguing over ownership of valley in post-WWII Soviet Russia
- Finish 10 hour discussion and make decision, successful village provides entertainer to tell story of relevance to case, so begins the tale of the chalk circle
- Riots break out in land of Grusinia, nobleman killed, his wife leaves behind her child in her haste to take all her clothes (v-effect already in action as is story within a story - constantly reminded not real by presence of singer)
- A servant girl called Grusha, engaged to a soldier called Simon, decides to look after child, walks for days, tries to leave it with a peasant woman but when the ironshirts (guards who rebelled) come the peasant woman gives up the child so Grusha attacks a guard and flees with the child
- Grusha eventually finds her brother’s house, they stay there until end of winter, her brother then makes her marry a dying man so that people don't gossip about the fatherless child, Grusha’s fiance Simon comes back and is very confused as to her having a husband and a child and takes off, at the same time the ironshirts come and take the child back to the capital, Grusha follows
- Meanwhile, a clerk who unknowingly sheltered the grand duke during the civil war is appointed judge by the ironshirts and is very dodgy, always awarding the poor the “win”. When nobility get back power, the clerk is still judge as saved duke’s life, thus has to reside over the trial for who is the child’s mother - the governer’s wife or Grusha
- Simon comes back for trial and claims to be the child’s father to help Grusha win
- Eventually judge draws circle of chalk and tells them to try to pull child out on their side, Grusha refuses to harm child, thus is awarded the child (similar to Solomon saying he’ll cut a child in half). The judge also nullifies Grusha’s marriage with dying man so she can (presumably) marry Simon
CONTEXT
- Written in 1944 during World War 2
- Brecht at this time an outcast in society as he was a German living in America
- Sufferings included: being given registration number, restricted to certain areas, curfew
- Based on Klabund's play Der Kreidekreis (1924), which is based on a Chinese play from between 1206 and 1368
ANALYSIS
- The first part to the play, or the Struggle for the Valley, mirrors the events that are about to proceed in the play, however is largely irrelevant to the rest of the play. The Singer, who is the narrator for the rest of the play, begins to tell a story; thus, the rest of the play is effectively just a tale, which further alienates the audience from connecting to the characters. The child is portrayed by a stretch of land, dehumanising him and providing further alienation.
- The Singer looks through a script throughout his narration, further enhancing the idea of theatre as an illusion. This is Choric Voice, tying in with Greek Theatre’s commentary of action by an onstage chorus.
- Throughout the play there are Marxist influences, and thus comments upon society
- Very rich vs. very poor
- Over-consumption of resources
- Struggle for equality
- Begins with ‘Once upon a time’, which juxtaposes with the bloodshed and gruesome imagery to follow. Also furthers the idea that it is just a story and disallows the audience to connect.
A time of bloodshed
When this city was called
The city of the damned
It had a Governor.
His name was Georgi Abashvili
Once upon a time.’
- Class divide is shown through the horrific portrayal of the beggars, and the gruesome over-consumption of the aristocracy. The gruesomeness also jolts the audience and initiates ‘Tears from the Brain’.
- People shouting over one another further alienates the audience, as speech may not be clearly heard.
- The authority is shown both giving out money and whipping the masses. This illogicality and juxtaposition furthers the alienation idea.
- ’Tearing down slums in order to form a garden’ is an extended metaphor for how the rich may take and indulge at the expense of the poor in order to satisfy frivolous desires.
- Notions of selfishness are also prevalent throughout the play. See the Fat Prince’s line ‘One pain in my liver and the doctor gets 50 lashes on the soles of his feet!’. The characters only care about themselves and needlessly harm others to get what they want.
- Grusha is forced to get ‘One more goose’, exemplifying how the rich live in excess and how she must therefore sacrifice her religion (unable to go to church) and sexuality (having to face the soldiers) in order to fulfill the whims of the rich.
- More alienation is found as Grusha says ‘I don’t understand the soldier’, partially breaking the fourth wall and using illogical grammar.
- Grusha interrupts the scene by running away; thus, the scene is left unfulfilled
- The Singer has didactic function; the Governor and other characters will follow exactly what he says.
The arrested Governor looks about him.’
- The Doctors change character in order to serve their own interests
Now: ‘My duty? It’s yours!’
- Grusha accepts the marriage proposal in haste and then leaves, thus sucking all the emotion out of the act and further alienating the audience. Grusha is also referred to by Simon as ‘the young woman’ instead of her name.
‘So the young lady has already made enquiries?’
- Natella (Governor’s Wife) will not hold her own child, instead getting a nurse to hold it.
- The impoverished slaves do not join the revolution and instead carry vast amounts of clothing.
- Gestus → ordering by signs.
- Whole scene is a reference to Marxist revolution: working class overthrowing the upper class
- Child is often presented as a box with ‘Child’ written on it. Hence, the characters refer to him as ‘It’, which once again alienates the audience. Child is then merely left on the ground by the nurse to get a pair of slippers.
- The head of the governor on a lance is grotesque, however would be portrayed as a box with ‘head’ written on it, like child, to remove emotion.
- Grusha merely covers the child and watches him, as no one wants him so as to serve their own interests.