Investigation of Bertig Brehct's Antigone, Jeanne D'arc and Coriolanus adaptations in terms of aesthetics of the School of Frankfurt

This study stresses on BertoltBrecht's adaptations, specifically Antigone, Coriolanus and Joan of Arc, in means of aesthetic qualities underthe skin of Frankfurt School's aspect of aesthetic. The chosen texts have some similarities, such as focusing on a war theme, having an ancient or legendary story in basis or being adopted by other well-known playwrights, such as Sophokles, Shakespeare and Bernard Shaw. This study will also compare and contrast Brecht's adaptations to the works of the given writers. This analysis will highlight the changes in Brecht's adaptations, which he intentionally made to combine the stories or the previous works with his own ideologic aspect and aesthetic approach. The main goal of the study is, to examine weather the ideologic and politic interpretations result in any loss in aesthetic means or a narrows the perspective of the original stories. In order to be able to accomplish such an analysis, the theoretical background has to be constituted elaborately. In order to provide sufficient theoretical background, in the first chapter, the Frankfurt School and the leading two aesthetic approaches-a vanguardanddialectic- related to the institution will be elaborated and Berliner Ensemble, where Brecht's plays were put on the stage, will be introduced. In the second chapter, Antigone, Coriolanus and Joan of Arc will be analyzed within the scope of two contradictory aesthetic approaches. To make the analysis clear. The original stories will be summarized and Brecht's version will be compared to the previous adaptations, in order to highlight the differences. This comparison plays a big role ın revealingtheway,theplaywright combines his ideological patterns with another work. In the final chapter, the analysis will be taken as thekey point to start the conclusion. The questions about the aesthetic loss and the narrowing of the perspective will be examined. Can it be said that, Brecht's adaptation are failures?