The Fortunes of Everyman in Twentieth-Century German Drama

BRIAN MURDOCH is Emeritus Professor of German at Stirling University, Scotland. He is the author of many books, including titles for both Camden House and D.S. Brewer.

Brian Murdoch reads three plays, by Toller, Borchert, and Frisch, against the backdrop of the late medieval "Everyman" morality play and its philosophical and theological mindset, making the point that there are less than immediately obvious, indeed surprising and significantly revealing "links" with the English work, which he detects with remarkable philologic and hermeneutic acumen. . . . The overall effect throughout is that of a stimulating, far-ranging tour through literary and philosophical landscapes one thought one was already familiar with but was not, guided by a learned and perceptive expert willing to be surprised himself and able to communicate such surprise to the reader. All in all, then, an eye-opener of a book, with a lucidly presented, commanding thesis, written by a clearly experienced critic, scholar, and thinker conversant with the highways and byways of the intellectual history of the West.

This monograph reveals that the plays by Toller, Borchert, and Frisch are due for a re-evaluation: that there are untapped means by which they can connect with today's audiences. Even more than that, it will reinvigorate discussion around mid-twentieth-century German drama.