Heinz Zander Books

Text des Druckes von 1587. Kritische Ausgabe. Hrsg.: Füssel, Stephan; Kreutzer, Hans Joachim.

Brecht's "Saint Joan of the Stockyards" explores the rampant speculation in meat and livestock against the backdrop of a crisis of overproduction. Set in the stockyards and meat market of Chicago, the play reveals the contradictions of society exacerbated by advanced capitalism. Johanna Dark, a Salvation Army soldier, witnesses the plight of workers excluded and starving due to the meat factories. In her quest to understand the reasons behind their exclusion, she encounters the meat king, Pierpont Mauler, who unsuccessfully tries to win her over to his cause. Ultimately, Johanna, also rejected by the poor, meets her demise in the stockyards. The play makes the "entangled processes" transparent, illustrating their underlying laws and using them as a means to drive the events forward.

Born and abandoned in Newgate Prison, Moll Flanders is forced to make her own way in life. She duly embarks on a career that includes husband-hunting, incest, bigamy, prostitution and pick-pocketing, until her crimes eventually catch up with her. This book recounts her adventures.