Shakespearean and Brechtian Drama and Theatre: An Audience Response Perspective

• Published in: Rupkatha journal on interdisciplinary studies in humanities Vol. 13; no. 1
• Main Authors: Joshi, Vishal, Kunwar, Shakuntala
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.01.2021
• ISSN: 0975-2935; 0975-2935
• DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v13n1.25

Shakespearean Dramatic theatre and Brechtian Epic theatre represent two divergent paradigms in the field of genre-drama. The plays falling under these two varying paradigms invite their readers or audience to learn to approach them by adopting a different theoretical perspective or critical stance. As per Martin Esslin “human capacities can change through time: human beings may learn to adjust themselves to new ways of perception …, and gain practice in accepting new ways of seeing both reality and art” (15). In the proposed study, the two plays chosen for comparative analyses are Hamlet by Shakespeare and Mother Courage and Her Children by Brecht: the former one centring on empathy, and the other one on alienation. Of the two paradigms discussed in the present study, in one type, admittedly, an emotional catharsis occurs and the second theoretically disclaims emotional catharsis.