“Devour Him!”: Appetites, Politics, and the Foundations of the Epic in Bertolt Brecht’s Edward II

Abstract

This article examines Bertolt Brecht’s treatment of appetites in his 1924 adaptation of Christopher Marlowe’s Edward II, arguing that Brecht’s Edward traces the slipperiness and danger of humanity’s libidinal desires. The play’s interrelation of hedonism, belligerence, and ambition inflects the historical events it presents, underscoring the need for some form of regulation. Ultimately, it offers King Edward’s eventual ascetic resistance to his captors – a substantial change from the original Marlowe version – as a potential turn from cyclical consumption and destruction. Written shortly before Brecht’s introduction to the work of Marx and at a particularly hedonistic moment in his own life, Edward explores both the personal and political ramifications of human appetites. Furthermore, the play’s investment in remedying humanity’s self-destructive urges on the personal and national levels offers an early gesture toward Brecht’s later epic political dramas such as Mother Courage and Galileo.