Performed for the first time in 1926 in Darmstadt, Germany, Brecht’s A Man’s A Man (Mann ist Mann) is representative of his early works written while he lived in Berlin. During the several years following World War I, the young Brecht threw himself into the “void of total permissiveness” of adulthood in big-city Berlin and began to study Marxism (Esslin 2090).
Brecht’s turn to a political movement that emphasized social change influenced his creative vision. A Man’s A Man explores the social factors in the transformation of Galy Gay, an Irishman living in a fictional British colony, from ordinary civilian to bloodthirsty machine gunner. The play not only reflects Brecht’s blossoming interest in communism and his involvement in the intellectual struggles of the Weimar Republic, but also a cautious optimism about the future – or at least an acceptance of the inevitable mechanization of man in an age of rapid technological change. “The world is a dangerous place,” says Brecht, warning that:
“You can do with a human being what you will. Take him apart like a car, rebuild him bit by bit— As you will see, he has nothing to lose by it.”
A Man’s a Man differs in some respects from Brecht’s other plays written around the same time. In his ordinariness, Galy Gay distinguishes himself from Brecht’s other heroes, who might be described as “romantic” and “chaotic” individualists such as Mac the Knife from Brecht’s 1927 play Threepenny Opera. Compared to Brecht’s other works, A Man’s a Man displays a more intellectual and brusque writing style (“Bertolt Brecht,” Hill 53).
While works of literature can be read and understood in many contexts, it is nonetheless important to consider an author’s particular situation when attempting to interpret his works. As Martin Esslin reminds us, “to understand Brecht one must see him against his background: the background of his language and its culture and literature, the background of the history of his times, the background of the theater against which he rebelled, the background of Marxist theory and Marxist politics” (2091). Therefore, while watching or reading the play, we invite you to interpret the play’s message for yourself, but also to ponder what its message might have meant for Brecht’s contemporary audience. Which questions does it raise for different audiences, different individuals, and different cultures about war, identity, and human fungibility?
Works Cited
- “Bertolt Brecht.” Encyclopedia of World Biography. 2nd ed. ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 512-14. Print.
- Esslin, Martin. “Brecht, Bertolt (1898-1956).” European Writers: The Twentieth Century. Ed. Stade, George. Vol. 11. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1983. 2089-111. Print.