Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny by Bertolt Brecht

First published:Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny, 1929 (English translation, 1957)

First produced: 1930, at the Leipzig Opera House, Leipzig, Germany

Type of plot: Opera; epic theater

Time of work: The mid-nineteenth century

Locale: The mythical American West during the gold rush

Principal Characters:

• Paul Ackermann, (also known as Jim MacIntyre, Mahoney, or Mallory),
• Jacob Schmidt, (also known as Jack O’Brien),
• Heinrich Merg, (also known as Bank Account Bill), and
• Joseph Lettner, (also known as Alaska Wolf Joe), lumberjacks
• Leocadia Begbick,
• Trinity Moses, and
• Willy (Fatty) the Bookkeeper, outlaws
• Jenny, a prostitute

The Play

At the beginning of Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, an old truck carrying three fugitives from the law, Leocadia Begbick, Trinity Moses, and Willy (also known as Fatty) the Bookkeeper, breaks down in the middle of a desert in the American West. Although they intended to become rich by prospecting for gold, presumably on the West Coast, they decide that it would be simpler and more lucrative to build a city and lure rich prospectors into their town with liquor and women. Mahagonny, which is erected in a couple of weeks, attracts Jenny Smith from Oklahoma and six other prostitutes. Eventually, men from big cities begin arriving at the “city of nets” to experience what they have heard to be a paradise.

Among the new arrivals are four lumberjacks from Alaska: Paul Ackermann, the main character (also known as Jim MacIntyre, Jim Mahoney, or Jim Mallory in some versions), and his three friends Jacob Schmidt (Jack O’Brien), Heinrich Merg (Bank Account Bill), and Joseph Lettner (Alaska Wolf Joe). They meet Leocadia Begbick, who introduces them to her “girls”; Paul decides to take Jenny after Jacob finds her too expensive. Soon, however, the city finds itself in a crisis: Inflation and the rising crime rate cause people to leave in alarming numbers. Even Paul considers moving on, because he does not feel completely satisfied with his new life. He senses that something is missing, but his friends persuade him to stay.

In the next scene, the four men, along with others, are drinking and smoking in front of the Hotel of the Rich Men. Signs surround them forbidding them to sing obscene songs and make noise. Again, Paul expresses his misgivings about staying in the city, because it is too quiet and boring. News of an approaching hurricane, however, disturbs their daydreams and frightens the town’s inhabitants. Only Paul relishes the upcoming storm, because it will bring some change, even if it is in the form of destruction, into his monotonous life. Begbick senses the danger in his attitude and warns, “Fierce is the hurricane/ Fiercer still is the typhoon/ But the worst of all is man.” Taking advantage of the situation, Paul invites the people of Mahagonny to do whatever they wish. An arrow on a large map visible in the background marks the hurricane’s course toward Mahagonny. Just as the city’s destruction seems inevitable, the storm unexpectedly moves around the city, leaving it unharmed.

After this miraculous turn of events, the city’s population decides to continue its hedonistic lifestyle. A male chorus sings of the city’s delights:

First, don’t forget the joys of eatingSecond, comes the sexual act,Third, go and watch the boxers fightingFourth comes drinking as per pact,But mainly get it through your headThat nothing is prohibited.

Some of the subsequent scenes portray the folly of such an extravagant lifestyle. Jacob gorges himself to death. The scene titled “Love” depicts Begbick’s women for sale but also portrays a tender moment between Paul and Jenny in which they voice their feelings for each other through a touching poem about flying cranes. At the boxing ring, Joseph challenges Trinity Moses to a fight despite Willy the Bookkeeper’s warnings that it would be murder. Joe is, predictably, killed.

Later, at Begbick’s, Paul treats everyone to drinks, but when Begbick demands to be paid, he discovers that he has no money left. Jenny and Heinrich refuse to lend him money, and he is arrested. In the courtroom, Begbick serves as the judge, Willy the Bookkeeper is the defense lawyer, and Trinity Moses, who is selling tickets to the two trials, is the prosecutor. During the first trial, Begbick acquits an accused murderer, because he has bribed her. The ostensible reason for the acquittal is the absence of an injured party. When Paul begs Heinrich for a hundred dollars so that he can do the same, his “friend” refuses him. Not surprisingly, Paul is found guilty of seducing Jenny (who testifies against him), of singing forbidden songs, of disturbing the peace during the night of the hurricane, and of being an accessory to Joe’s death, because he encouraged him to fight. Moreover, he is condemned to death “because of his lack of money, which is the greatest crime on earth.”

In the background of the execution scene, the audience sees the peaceful city of Mahagonny; the electric chair is in the foreground. Several people, including Jenny and Heinrich, have gathered to watch Paul’s execution. Although many of the spectators do not wish to see Paul killed, they are not willing to pay for his release. Paul takes leave of Jenny and Heinrich and reminds all present of God’s existence. Begbick commands him to sit on the electric chair, and Jenny and four men put on a play about God in Mahagonny. It will not matter, they conclude, if God sends them to Hell, because they are already there. The skit forces Paul to realize his mistake: He came to Mahagonny thinking that money could buy happiness, but he discovers that he has neither friends nor freedom.

After Paul’s execution, Mahagonny experiences its own gradual destruction: Chaos, inflation, and a growing animosity among the townfolk signal the demise of the city of paradise. Marching demonstrators bear placards demanding chaos and the “fight of all against all”; other posters proclaim the need for the just distribution of goods, love, and the continuation of the golden age. Another parade of people bears Paul’s corpse and a poster saying “For Justice.” In this final scene of chaos, no salvation appears forthcoming: It concludes with everyone proclaiming that they cannot be helped.

Dramatic Devices

In Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, Bertolt Brecht combines opera with elements from his epic theater, cabaret, and vaudeville. In his notes on the work, he dubbed it a “culinary opera” that both gives pleasure and educates. It not only embraces a “hedonistic approach” but also provokes the audience to question accepted conventions and to become aware of “the irrationality of the operatic form.” In particular, he observes that “the irrationality of opera lies in the fact that rational elements are employed, solid reality is aimed at, but at the same time it is all washed out by the music. A dying man is real. If at the same time he sings, we are translated to the sphere of the irrational.”

Brecht produced an opera “with innovations” by employing some of the techniques of his epic theater. One significant innovation is the “separation of elements” of the opera. Instead of creating a Gesamtkunstwerk (integrated work of art) in which the music, words, and setting are fused together, a technique that draws in the audience and makes them part of the musical production, he separated the various elements. Consequently, he makes the spectators aware of the opera as a contrived work of art. The distance achieved between the production and the spectators allows them to observe and reflect upon the message of the artwork.

Brecht’s text and Weill’s music most clearly demonstrate the didactic role of the epic opera. The playwright claimed that “the text had to be neither moralizing nor sentimental, but to put morality and sentimentality on view.” Brecht undercuts the tender love scene between Paul and Jenny, for example, by Jenny’s refusal to help her former lover when he is condemned to die. As a result, he both presents a traditional romantic theme and exposes the hypocrisy of such sentimentality. The spectator both enjoys the touching scene and becomes aware of its artificiality.

This “jolt” into an awareness of the illusory quality of the artwork and the contrasting harsh reality constitutes Brecht’s Verfremdungseffekt, or alienation effect. Brecht’s favorite description of the theatergoer was that he left his brain, along with his hat, at the check-in room. The alienation effect, on the other hand, causes the audience to reflect on the work’s social message and consequently on the injustices of the real world and incites them to change it.

Similarly, Weill’s music does not lull the spectator into complacency but offers ironic commentary on the action. The trite texts, often jarring music, and harsh voices underline the banality of the emotions and ideas presented and allow the audience to gain critical insight into conventional behavior and platitudes. Weill employed elements from popular music—cabaret, operetta, and especially American jazz—to achieve self-irony and parody. For example, the song in which Jenny explains her failure to help Paul when he is condemned is the same one he sang when he proclaimed the new law of hedonism in Mahagonny:

Your life in this world’s what you make itAnd no one will carry you through.If there’s got to be kicks, then I’ll give themAnd the kicked one, believe me, will be you.

The repetition of the song under much different circumstances gives an ironic twist to its original meaning: The egoistic attitude implicit in the song brings about Paul’s doom, not his happiness.

Other elements in the opera, including the use of placards and projections, serve as didactic tools and ironic commentary on the scenes. The posters with conflicting messages that are carried by the demonstrators at the conclusion not only portray the chaos in Mahagonny (“For the just distribution of goods” and “For the unjust distribution of goods”) but also comment ironically on one another (“For love” and “For the venality of love”). Furthermore, the projection of a peaceful Mahagonny contrasts sharply with the execution scene (with electric chair) in the foreground.

Critical Context

The epic opera’s predecessor, the Songspiel Mahagonny (unpublished until 1963; the little mahagonny), was produced at the Chamber Music Festival in Baden-Baden, Germany, in 1927 and caused an uproar that foreshadowed the even more scandalous effect Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny generated in Leipzig. The latter was actually a continuation and expansion of the former. Hissing, whistling, and fighting broke out during the work’s premiere, and the police were summoned. During subsequent performances, the lights were kept on, and the police were stationed along the walls of the theater to prevent similar riots. Lotte Lenya, Bertolt Brecht’s main actor, commented that the audience believed that the dramatic work was simply communist propaganda, not the traditional opera that they expected. Despite the scandal, the work was a success, and the premiere performance was considered a historical moment in the German theater.

Some critics consider this work, which was written at the same time as Die Dreigroschenoper (pr. 1928, pb. 1929; The Threepenny Opera, 1949), the quintessential expression of Brecht’s thought during what Klaus Schuhmann calls his “transitional period” (1926-1929). During these years, Brecht read Marx and was in the process of committing himself to communism. In particular, Marx’s dictum that it was more important to change the world than merely to interpret it exercised a great influence on Brecht’s attitude toward the role of dramatic works, according to Fritz Sternberg. Because Brecht had little confidence in the political effect of opera, however, he soon turned to other dramatic forms, such as the ballet-cantata Die Sieben Todsünden der Kleinbürger (pr. 1933; The Seven Deadly Sins, 1961), in which the “culinary” aspect was deemphasized and the didactic element could be stressed. As Brecht himself stated, the epic opera was supposed to be “fun,” to be enjoyable, even as it made jabs at capitalism.

Others point out that Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny represents a significant experiment in the operatic form rather than an important stage in Brecht’s ideological development. While working on this musical play, Brecht devised the main traits of his epic theater and integrated these principles into his “epic opera.” The techniques he used in it to produce the alienation effect were developed further in his later plays.

Sources for Further Study

Bentley, Eric. Bentley on Brecht. New York: Applause, 1999.

Brecht, Bertolt. Bertolt Brecht Journals, 1934-1955. New York: Routledge, 1995.

Casabro, Tony. Bertold Brecht’s Art of Dissemblance. Brookline, Mass.: Longwood Academic, 1990.

Cotterill, Rowland. “In Defence of Mahagonny.” In Culture and Society in the Weimar Republic, edited by Keith Sullivant. Totowa, N.J.: Rowman and Littlefield, 1977.

Ozsvath, Zsuzsanna. “Brecht’s Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny and The Good Woman of Setzuan.” University of Hartford Studies in Literature: A Journal of Interdisciplinary Criticism 13 (1981): 178-186.

Parmalee, Patty Lee. “1927-29, Studying Marx: Mahagonny and the Learning Plays.” In Brecht’s America. Columbus: University of Ohio Press, 1981.