45 pages • 1 hour read
Bertolt BrechtThe Caucasian Chalk Circle
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1944A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Silver Cross Necklace
In The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Grusha falls for a soldier named Simon whom she meets by the river. When they are forced to part during the uprising against the Governor and his family, they make a promise to find one another again. Simon gives Grusha a silver cross necklace that belonged to his mother as a symbol of his love for her. Though the cross necklace is not an engagement ring, it is still symbolic of their promise of love for one another. This is evident when Grusha prays to the cross while she is being wed to Yussup as a secret vow of her faithfulness to Simon.
When Simon returns from the war to find Grusha married to someone else, he feels that their promise has been broken. He doesn’t stop to listen to Grusha and why it was necessary for her to get married. He tells her, “Give me back the cross I gave you. Or better, throw it in the stream” (90). Grusha does not discard the necklace, symbolizing that there is still hope for the couple. By the end of the play, Simon amends his relationship with Grusha and the two of them are wed.
Fruit Trees
Throughout the play, there are several references to fruit trees, which are symbolic of the patient, nurturing, and loving care needed for something to flourish, whether it is literal trees, a young child, or a new society. The first thing that is needed to help something grow is patience. Time is often referenced in The Caucasian Chalk Circle as something valuable and desired but not frequently taken and/or given. Where someone takes time reveals their priorities. For example, the innkeeper tells Grusha and the wealthy women, “Excuse an old man for keeping you waiting, ladies. My little grandchild was showing me a peach tree in blossom” (55). For the innkeeper, admiring the flourishing trees and enjoying them with his grandchild are inextricably linked: This man cares for the land and his grandchild and is portrayed in a positive light for taking the time to enjoy the (literal and figurative) fruits of his labor.
Parenting, much like farming, is hard work, and this is demonstrated in the struggles that Grusha takes on so that she can properly care for Michael. She tells the child, “Michael, you cause a lot of trouble. I came by you as the pear tree comes by the sparrows. And because a Christian bends down and picks up a crust of bread so it won’t go to waste” (77). The bond they share comes naturally, but the work required is what really makes Grusha the best mother for the child.
Finally, the fruit trees represent the dawn of socialism and the hard work needed to build a new country. With their fruit trees, the Rosa Luxemburg kolkhoz has made the valley many times more fruitful than before. They are named for Rosa Luxemburg, who was a Polish-German Marxist revolutionary during World War I. This symbolizes the fruit tree kolkhoz’s alignment with socialism and the values needed to build the future.
Migraine
Brecht utilizes the motif of migraines to illuminate and ridicule the fragility of the upper class. The wealthy characters have an almost comical reaction any time they are annoyed or feel threatened by someone outside of their circle, they inevitably get a migraine. When the Adjutant is trying to hurry the Governor’s Wife out of the city for her own protection, she grows annoyed that she doesn’t have as much time to pack her expensive clothes. She orders her servants to keep packing, saying “That green one! And of course the one with the fur trimming. Where are the doctors? I’m getting this terrible migraine again” (47). The slightest inconvenience results in a dramatic migraine, leaving her to call for the doctors while continuing to pack an absurd amount of regal clothing.
Another instance of the migraine motif is when Grusha, who is at first mistaken for another rich woman, is outed as a servant. One of the ladies exclaims, “She wanted to murder us. It’s a case for the police. Oh God, I can feel my migraine coming on!” (59). This woman’s ridiculous reaction to discovering Grusha is a poor woman further ridicules the wealthier class.
Finally, just before the test of the chalk circle, the Governor’s Wife says, “At least the common people aren’t here. I can’t stand their smell, it always gives me a migraine” (116). Her lawyers advise her to keep such comments to herself, given the circumstances. The Governor’s Wife is still oblivious to her attitude being a prime example of why the people are rioting. In each of these examples, the problems that should be taking priority are overshadowed by the wealthy citizens’ shallowness, further proving them unfit to rule.
Related Titles
By Bertolt Brecht
