Azzah Ibrahim

The Brechtian Elements in John Arden's and Edward Bond's Plays: a Comprative Analytical Study Azzah Ibrahim

The work consists of five chapters, an introduction and a conclusion. The first chapter is intended to be an intensive discussion of Bertolt Brecht's life and works, his Marxist doctrine,and the assailable chasm between his theory and theater. The second chapter is a historical background of both John Arden's and Edward Bond's lives and works. The third chapter is devoted to discussing the Marxist elements in John Arden's and Edward Bond's plays and their relation to Brechtian dialectical theater. The themes of their plays are discussed in relation to two major criteria- class consciousness and dialectical materialism. The fourth chapter is an investigation of the epic aspects in the plays of John Arden and Edward Bond. The fifth chapter includes an analysis of the two dramatists' languages and dialogues. This chapter explores some of the playwrights metaphorical languages such as the use of certain images and dialects, paying considerable attention to the employment of poetic lines within prose plays. The last chapter is a conclusion where the findings of the work are summarized and the essential points are recapitulated.