The Visions of Simone Machard
Encyclopedia
The Visions of Simone Machard is a play by the German modernist
playwright Bertolt Brecht
. Written in 1942, the play is the second of three treatments of the Joan of Arc
story that Brecht created (after Saint Joan of the Stockyards
(written 1929-1931) and before The Trial of Joan of Arc of Proven, 1431
(1952)). The play was jointly written with Leon Feuchtwanger and was completed during their exile in Los Angeles
. Set in France
in 1940, it portrays Joan as the patron saint of the resistance movement against the Germans.
In the play, an adolescent girl named Simone works at a gas station in central France
. Her older brother is a soldier in the army, and the Nazi forces are approaching. While engrossed in a book about Saint Joan
, she slips into a series of dreams in which the real persons in her life take on other identities. Her brother appears as an angel, her boss as the coward Connetand, and herself as Saint Joan who helps starving refugees and defies her employer. In real life she sets fire to a secret supply of gasoline before the Germans can get to it. In her dream she is captured and sentenced to death, but in real life she is not yet considered a saboteur. The Germans hand her over to the French as a mere arsonist, and she is led away by nuns to a mental institution.
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
playwright Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
. Written in 1942, the play is the second of three treatments of the Joan of Arc
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
story that Brecht created (after Saint Joan of the Stockyards
Saint Joan of the Stockyards
Saint Joan of the Stockyards is a play written by the German modernist playwright Bertolt Brecht between 1929 and 1931, after the success of his musical The Threepenny Opera and during the period of his radical experimental work with the Lehrstücke. It is based on the musical that he co-authored...
(written 1929-1931) and before The Trial of Joan of Arc of Proven, 1431
The Trial of Joan of Arc of Proven, 1431
The Trial of Joan of Arc of Proven, 1431 is an adaptation by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht of a radio play by Anna Seghers. It was written in collaboration with Benno Besson and premiered at the Berliner Ensemble in November 1952, in a production directed by Besson , with Käthe Reichel as...
(1952)). The play was jointly written with Leon Feuchtwanger and was completed during their exile in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. Set in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1940, it portrays Joan as the patron saint of the resistance movement against the Germans.
In the play, an adolescent girl named Simone works at a gas station in central France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Her older brother is a soldier in the army, and the Nazi forces are approaching. While engrossed in a book about Saint Joan
Joan of Arc
Saint Joan of Arc, nicknamed "The Maid of Orléans" , is a national heroine of France and a Roman Catholic saint. A peasant girl born in eastern France who claimed divine guidance, she led the French army to several important victories during the Hundred Years' War, which paved the way for the...
, she slips into a series of dreams in which the real persons in her life take on other identities. Her brother appears as an angel, her boss as the coward Connetand, and herself as Saint Joan who helps starving refugees and defies her employer. In real life she sets fire to a secret supply of gasoline before the Germans can get to it. In her dream she is captured and sentenced to death, but in real life she is not yet considered a saboteur. The Germans hand her over to the French as a mere arsonist, and she is led away by nuns to a mental institution.