45 pages • 1 hour read
Bertolt BrechtThe Caucasian Chalk Circle
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1944A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Bonds of Mothers and Their Children
Content Warning: This play references sizeism, fascism, child neglect, and sexual harassment.
One of the prominent themes of The Caucasian Chalk Circle is the bonds of mothers and their children. The primary conflict in the play revolves around who is the true mother of Michael and the sacrifices involved for anyone who takes on the role of parenthood. Brecht presents readers with two different maternal figures, both of whom have their own claim to custody over the child. Throughout the play, it becomes evident who is the more suitable mother.
Michael’s biological mother is the Governor’s Wife. From her first entrance, her selfish nature is evident. On Easter Sunday, shortly before the riots begin, the Governor’s Wife scoffs at her husband’s doting on their son. She says, “It’s quite impossible to live in this slum. But Georgi, of course, builds only for his little Michael. Never for me. Michael is everything, everything for Michael!” (41). There is a clear sense of jealousy toward Michael from the Governor’s Wife, and she sees him as an adversary in her competition for her husband’s attention. This is thematically important because it shows the unfitness of the upper class to rule. In the play’s socialist allegory, the upper class is focused on itself and on the past rather than the future. Its myopic emphasis on its own needs makes it unfit to take care of anyone or anything else.
Grusha represents the opposite set of values. When Grusha first comes upon Michael, she is struck with empathy and concern for the abandoned child. The decision to take him with her is not one she makes lightly: “For a long time she sat with the child. […]/ Till towards morning the temptation grew too strong./ She rose, she leaned over, she signed, she lifted the child./ She carried it off” (53). Grusha is aware of the moral, practical, and legal implications of taking someone else’s child, but her compassion overrides these concerns. Throughout the play, she makes many sacrifices and always puts Michael’s needs over her own. It is only when she finds a household that seems to be a safer place for him that she leaves him, but she regrets the decision immediately. The Musicians sing what’s in Grusha’s heart: “I’m sad because I’m single and free/ Of the little burden in whom a heart was beating:/ Like one robbed, like one impoverished I’m going” (63). Even though Grusha did not give birth to Michael, he has become a part of her, and she feels his absence deeply. Grusha knows the power of motherhood and the courage it can bring in times of crisis. She uses this to muster up bravery not only in herself but also in others, such as when she asks the peasant woman to lie on Michael’s behalf.
This bravery is seen again when Grusha must cross an old bridge to escape the Ironshirts. Others tell her she will surely die and urge her to at least leave the child behind. Grusha tells them, “I won’t. We belong together. (To the child:) Live together, die together” (70). Fortunately, she makes it safely to the other side. Her love is revealed again when she is faced with the test of the chalk circle. This time, she doesn’t risk his life to keep him with her. She loves him enough to let him go, even if it means she will face the unbearable pain of losing him. This, ultimately, is what proves to the Judge that Grusha is the best mother for Michael.
Justice and How It‘s Administered
Justice and how it’s administered is a prominent theme in The Caucasian Chalk Circle. The ideas surrounding classism, the good of the individual versus the good of the majority, and the dangers of a totalitarian government are all reflective of the time period in which the play was written. The argument for justice in Brecht’s play is strongly influenced by his own political views and his opposition to the Fascist government that had overtaken Germany.
One of the recurring ideas of justice in The Caucasian Chalk Circle is its consequences for the working class. Although the people suffered under the rule of the Grand Duke and the Governor, the rise of the Ironshirts and the resulting civil war were just as detrimental to them. The Singer tells the audience:
When the houses of the great collapse
Many little people are slain.
Those who had no share in the fortunes of the mighty
Often have a share in their misfortunes. The plunging wain
Drags the sweating beasts with it into the abyss (43).
Within the context of the play, these lyrics are a warning of the times to come for servants such as Grusha. Within the context of the framing device (post-World War II Europe), it is a testament to the citizens who suffered during the war and a reminder that their suffering was unjust.
Throughout the play, Grusha is the sole character who acts predominantly out of selflessness. The others all act out of selfishness, either out of necessity (such as the peasants) or out of greed (such as the rich). Brecht makes this distinction clear, and it is evident that the peasants are selfish because their circumstances demand it. For example, the farmer who sells milk to Grusha is stingy with the price. When Grusha pleads for charity, he replies, “If you want milk, kill the soldiers” (55). The war has hardened people and fueled a sense of individuals needing to look out for themselves alone. The rich people in the play, however, are depicted as silly and foolish, looking out for themselves out of pure greed.
Another source of injustice in the play is extreme nationalism, represented by the Ironshirts. The Corporal tells his comrades, “I admit you collared her husband as I commanded. And you did kick him in the stomach. But did you enjoy it like a good soldier? Or did you just do it from a sense of duty?” (61). The joy the Corporal takes in abusing others and the way he frames it as their duty reflects the attitude of Nazi Germany toward its perceived enemies. Brecht warns that a lack of mercy always leads to an unjust regime’s downfall but demonstrates how the innocent become collateral damage in the process.
Azdak is the first character who is put in a position of power who starts to administer a semblance of justice. Though he is at times drunken and unruly, the citizens are better off with him in power. Azdak frequently takes from the rich and rules in favor of the poor. He appears in the play just long enough to show that it is possible to rule more justly and then departs. The Singer says of his final days, “the people of Grusinia did not forget him and often remembered/His time of Judgment as a brief Golden Age that was almost just” (128). The “almost” is important here because Azdak is not presented as flawless or upright. He is morally compromised in that he takes bribes and interprets the law in his own way, taking advantage of the chaos and moral laxity of his society. However, Azdak never lets the play’s evils (classism, nationalism, individualism) cloud his judgment, and this brings the country a little closer to equality.
Moral and Ethical Choices in Times of Crisis
Throughout The Caucasian Chalk Circle, the characters are faced with difficult moral and ethical choices. Almost every time, the characters make the choice that is the best for them without considering the impact these choices will have on others. This shows that rather than being absolute, morality and ethics are contingent on the context in which they are used.
Even the purehearted Grusha is conflicted about saving Michael. When she contemplates whether she should leave or take baby Michael with her, she ultimately decides she must take him, declaring “Terrible is the temptation to do good!” (52). This shows that she is aware of the situation’s moral ambiguity. Grusha is ruled by a strong moral compass, proving that “In the bloodiest times/There are still good people” (64). It empowers her with the courage to make the morally right decision under pressure, and the willingness to put herself in danger if it’s to protect someone else.
Even her choices to protect Michael are ethically questionable at times. When Grusha arrives at a rickety bridge after leaving the peasant woman, other characters are shocked that she is thinking of crossing to escape the Ironshirts. The Merchant Woman says, “I wouldn’t try that even if the devil himself were after me. It’s suicide” (69). Self-preservation is the motivation for them, but Grusha would rather risk her and Michael’s lives than be caught by the Ironshirts. This is a choice made out of desperation. She makes it safely to the other side, and this shows the play’s support for her choice. In the play’s political allegory, death is nobler than coming under fascist rule.
Another character who is forced to make a decision under pressure is the peasant woman, with whom Grusha briefly leaves Michael. When Grusha begs her to lie and protect Michael from the Ironshirts, the woman initially agrees. As soon as she is faced with the danger of the Ironshirts, however, she caves. She tells the Corporal, “I have nothing to do with it. She left it on the doorstep, I swear” (67). Any motherly instincts that the peasant woman has vanish the moment her household is in danger. This emphasizes that for most characters, there is a hierarchy of whom they are willing to protect and whom they are willing to sacrifice in times of crisis.
The ultimate test of a moral and ethical decision made under pressure is the test of the chalk circle itself. When both mother figures are tasked with proving their love in a way that could potentially harm the child, their true motivations are revealed. The Governor’s Wife greedily grasps Michael, regardless of whether she will hurt him in the process. She is more than willing to engage in a tug-of-war over the child if it means winning custody of Michael’s fortune. Grusha, meanwhile, cannot bring herself to harm Michael, even given the stakes. Whereas her decision to cross the rickety bridge with Michael was ideological, she cannot prioritize her own happiness over the child’s safety. When she is commanded to pull on him and prove her love, she refuses. She can’t hurt the child and is ready to give him up completely if it means he leaves the test unharmed. This shows that pressurized situations reveal a person’s true morality and that a person will not make the same ethical decision in every context.
Related Titles
By Bertolt Brecht
