Money & Politics in Ibsen, Shaw, and Brecht

Originally published in 1980, each of the three playwrights discussed in this lively book was a radical in his own way, concerned with the moral and social implications of capitalism. In addition, as Dukore, author of several previous books on Shaw and other modern dramatists, shows in the first chapter, there is a clear chain of influence from Ibsen to Shaw to Brecht. The book is structured around the ways the three writers treat similar issues and themes. The chapters focus on particular subjects involving money, politics, or both. They isolate particular viewpoints from which each playwright treats capitalist society. One chapter, a discussion of A Doll House, Pygmalion, and Mother Courage and Her Children, centers on money; another focuses on politics with reference to Rosmersholm, On the Rocks, and The Mother. In between fall discussions of plays in which both money and politics are central issues, first among the lower classes and women (Ghosts, Mrs Warren’s Profession, and The Good Person of Szechwan), then among professionals (The Master Builder, The Doctor’s Dilemma, Life of Galileo), then among the upper classes (Pillars of Society, Heartbreak House, Puntila and Matti), then a discussion of money and morality (An Enemy of the People, Major Barbara, and Saint Joan of the Stockyards). In his concluding essay, the author examines the relationship between ideology and artistry, showing that any interpretation of the work of these three dramatists will profit from an awareness of their radicalism.