The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui - Bertolt Brecht

Summary
"The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui" is an allegorical play by Bertolt Brecht, written in 1941. It chronicles the rise of Arturo Ui, a fictional Chicago gangster, and his efforts to control the city's cauliflower trust through protection rackets, intimidation, and violence. The play is a parabolic satire of Adolf Hitler's rise to power in Nazi Germany, with the characters and events mirroring historical figures and events from that period. Ui, initially a small-time criminal, transforms himself into a ruthless demagogue, learning public speaking and mannerisms from an actor. He consolidates power by eliminating rivals, orchestrating murders, and rigging trials, ultimately expanding his reign of terror from Chicago to the neighboring town of Cicero (representing Austria). Brecht's play serves as a warning, emphasizing that the ascent of such a tyrannical figure is not inevitable but resistible if confronted early and decisively.

Book Sections

Section 1: The Chicago Cauliflower Trust and Ui's Ambition

The play opens in Chicago, where the city's Cauliflower Trust is facing financial difficulties. The venerable but corrupt Dogsborough, head of the Trust, is pressured by his associates Sheet, Gobler, and Clark to accept a loan from a shipping company owned by Ignatius Dullfeet, who is resistant to the idea. Dogsborough, despite his public image, is susceptible to bribery and manipulation. Meanwhile, Arturo Ui, a crude and ambitious Chicago gangster, along with his chief enforcer Ernesto Roma, seeks to muscle into the Cauliflower Trust's protection racket. Ui attempts to bribe Dogsborough, but the old man initially refuses. Ui's gang operates through violence and intimidation, but Ui himself lacks the charisma and political savvy to gain legitimate control.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Arturo Ui	Small-time, uncouth gangster; ambitious, ruthless, paranoid; seeks power.	To expand his criminal empire, gain control over legitimate businesses, achieve status.
Ernesto Roma	Ui's loyal, violent chief enforcer; leader of the "stormtroopers"; impulsive.	Loyalty to Ui, enjoyment of violence, maintaining his position within the gang.
Dogsborough	Head of the Cauliflower Trust; elderly, revered but deeply corrupt and weak-willed.	To maintain his power and wealth, avoid scandal, personal enrichment.
Dullfeet	Owner of a shipping company; a principled businessman, initially resistant to corruption.	To run his business ethically, resist criminal elements, protect his reputation.
Sheet	Member of the Cauliflower Trust; opportunistic, willing to compromise morals.	To protect his business interests, avoid conflict, follow the path of least resistance.
Gobler	Member of the Cauliflower Trust; easily swayed, concerned with personal safety.	To survive, protect his assets, align with whoever seems most powerful.
Clark	Member of the Cauliflower Trust; pragmatic, seeks stability above all else.	To maintain order, ensure the continuity of the Trust's operations.
Gaffles	Head of the haulage industry; a figure of power in the criminal underworld.	To maintain his control over his industry, cooperate for mutual benefit.

Section 2: The Fire and the Elimination of Dullfeet

The tension escalates when a warehouse belonging to the Cauliflower Trust is mysteriously set on fire. Ui and Roma exploit the incident to intimidate the Trust members. Dullfeet, however, remains a steadfast opponent of Ui's influence. Ui decides that Dullfeet must be eliminated. Roma, with Ui's implicit approval, arranges Dullfeet's murder, staging it to look like a suicide or an accident. Dullfeet's widow, Betty Dullfeet, attempts to expose the truth, but Ui manipulates the legal system. A show trial is orchestrated, where Ui's men bribe and threaten witnesses and the jury, ensuring that the blame falls on an innocent scapegoat, and Ui emerges unscathed. This event solidifies Ui's reputation for ruthlessness and his ability to pervert justice.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Betty Dullfeet	Dullfeet's widow; distraught, determined to seek justice for her murdered husband.	To avenge her husband's death, expose Ui's criminality, seek truth and justice.
Prosecutor	A legal official, pressured and eventually corrupted by Ui's influence.	To maintain his position, avoid Ui's wrath, follow orders from above.

Section 3: The Art of Demagoguery

Despite his growing power, Ui is still a crude and awkward speaker, lacking the public appeal to fully legitimize his control. He recognizes this deficiency and, at Roma's suggestion, hires an old, washed-up Shakespearian actor. The Actor instructs Ui on rhetoric, posture, gestures, and dramatic delivery, teaching him how to project an image of authority and inspire fear and loyalty. Ui diligently practices, transforming his rough demeanor into a more polished, albeit theatrical, persona of a charismatic demagogue. He learns to use pauses, inflections, and dramatic poses to manipulate an audience, turning himself into a more formidable and publicly acceptable figure.

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
The Actor	An old, unemployed stage actor; theatrical, knowledgeable in dramatic arts.	To earn money, regain some relevance, impart his knowledge of performance.

Section 4: The Takeover of Cicero

With his new-found public speaking skills, Ui turns his attention to the neighboring town of Cicero, intending to extend his protection racket over its small shopkeepers. He sends his lieutenants, Giri and Givola, ahead to soften up the town. Giri, a brutal enforcer, and Givola, a cunning manipulator, use a combination of intimidation, threats, and staged "protection" incidents (like setting fire to a shop and then offering to prevent future fires) to terrorize the local merchants, including characters like O'Casey and Fish. Ui then arrives to give a powerful speech, showcasing his newly acquired oratorical skills, effectively forcing the shopkeepers to accept his "protection."

Character	Characteristics	Motivations
Giri	Ui's brutal and simple-minded enforcer; prone to violence.	Loyalty to Ui, desire for power and control through force.
Givola	Ui's shrewd and deceptive consigliere; manipulates situations, sets up betrayals.	Personal gain, consolidating his own power within Ui's organization, survival.
O'Casey	A small shopkeeper in Cicero; initially defiant but eventually succumbs to fear.	To protect his business and family, resistance against oppression.
Fish	Another small shopkeeper in Cicero; wary and fearful, easily intimidated.	To survive, protect his livelihood, avoid conflict and violence.

Section 5: The Purge and Consolidation of Power

Ui, now seemingly unstoppable, begins to consolidate his power. However, internal dissent threatens his authority. Roma, once his most loyal enforcer, becomes increasingly critical of Ui's methods and his growing vanity, fearing that Ui is straying from their gangster roots. Sensing a threat, and manipulated by Givola, Ui decides to eliminate Roma and other perceived rivals within his own gang. This "purge" is carried out brutally, with Roma and others massacred. Dogsborough, who has been steadily declining and broken by Ui's machinations, dies, leaving a power vacuum that Ui is quick to fill. Ui completely takes over the Cauliflower Trust, now without any meaningful opposition.

Section 6: The Inevitable Expansion

With all rivals eliminated and Cicero firmly under his control, Ui stands unopposed. He addresses his followers and the cowed populace, declaring his intentions to expand his "protection" over other cities and territories. His speech is a chilling declaration of future conquests, revealing the full extent of his megalomania. The play concludes with Ui's triumphant but ominous assertion of his absolute power, leaving the audience with the stark warning that such a rise, though resistible, can only be stopped if people choose to act.

Literary Genre
Epic theatre, allegorical play, political satire, historical drama.

Author Facts
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was a German playwright, poet, and theatre director. He is considered one of the most influential figures in 20th-century theatre, known for developing the "epic theatre" style, which aimed to provoke rational self-reflection and a critical view of the action rather than emotional identification. A committed Marxist, Brecht used theatre as a platform for social and political commentary. He was forced to flee Nazi Germany in 1933 and spent many years in exile, during which he wrote 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui'. After World War II, he founded the Berliner Ensemble theatre company in East Berlin.

Morale
The central morale of 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' is that the rise of fascism, totalitarianism, and authoritarian figures is not inevitable but entirely resistible. Brecht emphasizes that such movements gain power through public apathy, corruption, and a failure to recognize and challenge their insidious beginnings. The play serves as a stark warning against political complacency and highlights the importance of critical thinking, collective action, and vigilance in safeguarding democracy and human rights. It teaches that ordinary people have the power to resist tyranny if they choose to act before it is too late.

Curiosities

1. Written in Exile: Brecht wrote 'The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui' in 1941 while in exile in Finland, desperate to warn the world about the nature of fascism and Hitler's rise, which he saw as a repeatable pattern.
2. Allegorical Characters: The characters in the play are direct allegories for real historical figures: Arturo Ui (Adolf Hitler), Ernesto Roma (Ernst Röhm), Dogsborough (Paul von Hindenburg), Dullfeet (Engelbert Dollfuss), Giri (Hermann Göring), Givola (Joseph Goebbels or Heinrich Himmler), and Sheet (Kurt von Schleicher). The Cauliflower Trust represents the Junkers and industrial elite, and Cicero represents Austria.
3. Shakespearean Influence: The play heavily draws on Shakespearean tropes, particularly from 'Richard III' and 'Macbeth', in its portrayal of a villain's rise to power and moral decay. Ui's hiring of an actor to learn dramatic gestures is a self-aware nod to the theatrical nature of political performance.
4. Epic Theatre Techniques: Brecht employs his signature "alienation effect" (Verfremdungseffekt) to distance the audience from emotional identification with the characters, encouraging critical thought. This includes the use of placards, direct address to the audience, and the overtly theatrical nature of Ui's transformation.
5. Purposeful Warning: Brecht intended the play as a satirical demonstration that Hitler was not a superhuman phenomenon, but a vulgar gangster whose success relied on the complicity and inaction of others, making his rise understandable and, more importantly, resistible.