CPL310 10/13/2004 Georg Kaiser -- born in Magdeburg 1878 -- son of a wealthy merchant -- sent to Buenos Aires to be a clerk -- got sick and returned to Eruope, living in Italy and ??? Before moving to Berlin -- wrote plays that established him as a leader or forerunner of the expressionist movement -- German expressionist movement was from 1920-1925 -- wrote over 70 plays, novels, radio plays ,and poetry -- 1930 elected to Germany Academy; expelled by Nazis -- went into exile into Ascona Switzerland in 1938 -- died 1945 at age 67 -- leader of expressionist moement -- rivals in populatirty with Hauptmann -- differs from H by limited th emobility of the individual aand studies it as the eidea of circumstancde and relatiy -- focusing on unreason and delustion that threaten the average man -- theme is "renewal of man" -- searches for authentic qualityies in human beings tha tprove creative beyond the concept of judgement Gas -- written 1917-20 -- conssistes of Die Koralle (1917), Gas I (1918), and Gas II (1920) -- sets were stark; speech was telegram style; intent was to keep people from getting too wrapped up in emotion; lots of repetition in the dialogue among characters -- Gas I is dedicated to the realiztation of "new man" -- idea of a Utopian Society and that man is equal -- no cast list but "persons" and none have a name -- Billionaire's son and his gasoline plant -- Gentleman in White is the narrator -- gas has color in it so it's no good -- Billionaire's son is at his daughter's wedding and gives them their inheritance -- Billionaire's son knows an explosion is going to happen -- many workers dies -- billionaire's son talks about building another plant but worries about another explosion -- quesiton about whether the engineer should be fired; the billionaire's son says the engineer's calculations were correct and the explosion was not his fault -- at any rate he instead decides he wants to use the land for the plant to give each worker a home and to work -- the engineer wants to be an engineer and rebuild; leaves in a huff -- billionaire's son's son-in-law needs more money to repay gambling debts -- other gas plant owners' workers are striking in sympathy with the billionaire son's workers; the other owners threaten to get the government involved -- the son in law (the officer) kills himself -- fourth act: girl talks of brother being turned into a hand because all he did was pull a lever with that hand -- some woman talks about her son being only an eye since he just watched things in the plant -- another talks of her husband being just a foot since he just operated a car -- these men are all victims of the gas plant explosion -- employees have a rally for these people -- these people are more than just a hand, an eye and a foot -- billionaire's son offers the people land and "peaceful humanity" -- people still want work to resume and want the engineer to lead them since he wants the plant rebuilt too -- Fifth act: billionaire's son is bloody since he's been stoned by the workers -- he asks the government to protect him to help him talk to the people again, but the government sends armed soldiers -- government decides to take plant over to produce gas for the war to make weapons -- billionaire's son is upset that they're going to make weapons to be used against human beings -- billionaire's son has to surrender -- his daughter comes to him to comfort him; she says she wants to give birth to the new man; she wants to fulfill her father's ideal (Gas II is about her son who is of the next generation) -- parallel to Enemy of the People; townspeople needed the spa and the plant despite any dangers Gas II -- most abstract and the shortest of the three plays -- in apocalyptic world during war between two superpowers -- Billionaire Worker, protagonist and grandson of Billionaire's Son -- he is the everyman and renounced and gave away all of his wealth; he serves as a model for others; wants workers to leave the factory and live off the land -- chief engineer is in charge of the gas production; represents at first the power of the people in charge; uses fear instead of love; develops a poison gas in secret (is he the mad scientist?) -- figures in blue are capitalists -- figures in yellow are socialists -- workers: the mob, humankind -- Act I -- figures in blue discussing production status and the war; production is going down and enemy is breaking through the defenses -- engineer says workers' morale is poor; they're losing their identity in the meaningless repetition of their work -- the blues want more gas no matter who dies and what happens to the workers, even if they have to work them to death -- they ask the Billionaire Worker to motivate the workers; he refuses -- the workers abandon their posts and the blues leave -- Act II -- the workers meet and the billionaire worker preaches to them (very Biblically); love one another and don't work for the war; be human and not just machines -- the ceiling in the hall is moveable but old and rusty; they still manage to open it up -- they proclaim peace on the radio; the yellow men come into the hall and enslave the workers, sending them back to their posts -- Act III -- opens exactly as Act I but it's yellow figures talking about production figures, which is again faltering -- the engineer reports that the workers won't work; the yellows tell him to punish the workers, flog them if necessary; he refuses and instead urges the workers to rebel; he tells about his new poison gas -- the billionaire workers comes in and speaks against the engineer's poison gas, advocating pacifism and martyrdom if necessary -- "the tower of your own height buried you"; humankind has progressed so far with science that it's lost its humanity -- the billionaire worker urges the workers to become the "New Man" but they choose revenge (the engineer's way) instead (acting out of fear?) -- the billionaire worker gives in and decides he should be the one to throw the bomb; that annihilates everyone (bleached skeletons everywhere); the yellows see the cloud coming towards them and they and the world die too -- Themes: -- hositility to war and industrialism -- fear of dehumanization -- yearning for spiritual regeneration Bertolt Brecht -- A Man's a Man, also called Man is Man or Man Equals Man -- a "comedy" in 11 scenes -- three soldiers lost the fourth soldier and try to brainwash an Irish porter into taking the fourth one's place -- themes: -- men are interchangeable; one man is like any other -- Uriah: leader of the three soldiers; truly believes men are interchangeable; kind of the scientist figure because he creates the plan into brainwashing Galy Gay into thiking he's the fourth soldier (Jip) -- Galy Gay: simple-minded Irish porter, easily coerced and confused; subject of Uriah's experiment; he never really believes he is Jip -- Charles Fairchild (Bloody Five); ruthless sargeant who's in charge of the soldiers; killed five sheiks by the Lake Chad River; has a weakness for women whenever it rains; is humilated by Widow Begbick when she makes him wear civilian clothing -- Brecht's example of what happens when you place too much importance on an identity -- Galy Gay sees Bloody Five shoot his sex away! -- Self preservation is a theme; Galy Gay pretends to be Jeraiah Jip under threat of execution; he thinks life is more important than his identity</plaintext><br /></body></html>