Baal
Play in one act, written in prose
Text and Melodies by Bertolt Brecht.
Written in 1918
Premiered December 8 1923 at the Altes Theater, Leipzig, Germany
Synopsis
Baal is epic theatre-maker Bertolt Brecht’s first full-length play. Brecht wrote it in 1918 while a student at Munich University, though it wasn’t performed until 1923. In 21 scenes, Baal follows the escapades and downfall of the titular character, an amoral poet and disillusioned antihero who aimlessly wanders the countryside womanizing, drinking, and fighting. He seduces his friend’s innocent fiancée, abandons a woman after getting her pregnant, and murders his friend. Though he remains defiant, his hubris eventually catches up to him and he is forced to pay a heavy price for his debauchery. Brecht wrote the play before he developed the epic theatre techniques that would define his work, but his style is still evident.
The Characters
Baal, a poet, named for a Semitic-Phoenician god. He embodies the vitality and amorality of the fertility principle the god represented. The god’s association with storms and with the life-giving properties of water is reflected in the violence and fleetingness of Baal’s passions. In the moral sphere, Baal is exploitive, murderous, and prone to drunkenness. He is tied to no human or ethical obligation. In the natural sphere, he insists on enjoying the pleasures and richness of the world.
Ekart, a composer, a bear of a man who entices Baal to follow him into the forest and become his lover. Although it is his animalistic nature that attracts Baal, he is vulnerable to social ties, as evidenced by his sympathy for and desire to care for Sophie and his commitment to composing a Mass. His resistance to Baal’s domination inevitably provokes the rage in which Baal murders him.
Johannes Schmidt, Baal’s friend, a young man bound by convention and propriety. He cannot consummate his desire for Johanna because he is afraid of her innocence and the social consequences. After her death, he fades into a drunken wraith of his former self.
Johanna Reiher, Johannes’ fiancée, a seventeen-year-old virgin. She is at once repulsed by and drawn to Baal. Overcome by shame and fear after Baal seduces her and then tells her that she means no more to him than any other woman’s body, she runs from his room and drowns herself in the river Laach.
Sophie Barger, another virgin, who is dragged by Baal into his room. Although she protests his advances, she is unable to resist his allure. While pregnant, she follows Baal and Ekart into the woods. When Ekart offers to care for her if she will deny her love for Baal, she refuses and is abandoned in the forest. She is almost totally defined by her sensuality, which lures her into Baal’s arms, provokes her into pregnancy, and prohibits her from repudiating her love for Baal.
Mech, a timber tycoon and publisher who is interested in financing the publication of Baal’s poems until Baal begins to seduce his wife, Emily. Mech’s exploitation of nature—especially his destruction of trees, which are a symbol of life in the play—and his gluttonous consumption of food indicate that his interest in Baal’s poetry is an attempt to devour his energy.
Emily Mech, his wife, who attracts Baal’s attention with her beautiful white arms, which she shows off to advantage when she plays the harmonium. Although Baal treats her with contempt once he is tired of her, she remains enthralled by her desire for him.
Dr. Piller, a critic who brings Baal together with Mech. Although appreciative of Baal’s poetry, he is repulsed by his behavior.
Mjurk, who owns the Night Cloud, a small café. He hires Baal to sing, but when he refuses to supply the poet with any more brandy, Baal breaks his contract by escaping through the toilet. Mjurk’s inability to maintain any control over Baal parallels Mech’s earlier failure to co-opt the poet.
Source: enotes
Sila Blume 
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