The German philanderer

STIPIMM: “Georgia on My Mind,” by Ray Charles
(guess which state’s tax forms I’ve been working on this afternoon)

And now, to the second thing that set Bertolt Brecht off from the pack as both a man and an artist: he had a high-pitched girly voice. Okay, that’s not the second thing, but it is true, he did have a high voice.

Helene Weigel

The second thing that distinguishes him is his record of relationships with women. Brecht is hardly the first great artist to be a womanizer, but Bertolt integrated his affairs into his daily life in a way that many men dream of, but few men achieve. His longtime wife, the actress Helene Weigel, not only tolerated his affairs, but managed them for him. There’s an oft-cited story of how Helene, upon seeing one of Bertolt’s mistresses flirting with someone else, went to the other man and asked him to stay away, essentially saying that the mistress’ wanderings would distract Brecht and hurt his art.

Ruth Berlau

Elizabeth Hauptmann

And that seems to be the underlying power that B.B. had over his women: his art. Several women, particularly Ruth Berlau and the aforementioned Elizabeth Hauptmann, effaced themselves both sexually and literarily for this man. It was a power he exhibited early on in his life, wooing teenage women up to his bedroom with his songs. And until he died in his 50s, women, young and old, were drawn to Brecht’s charisma and artistic temperament. In his 40s and 50s, he had several lovers (mostly actresses) who were in their 20s. Poor B.B., indeed. How this homely fellow, who smoked big stogies and had poor hygiene, got so much tail is something to be marveled at.

But again, it’s not so much his power of attraction that set him apart, it was the way in which he made his women part of his life. When hopping from country to country after fleeing from Hitler’s Germany, he not only took his wife and child with him, but one or two of his mistresses, often traveling together. The things that Bertolt was able to get people to do is at times astounding. Later in life, he had an ongoing affair with the young wife of a German socialist reformer--with the husband’s outright permission.

Despite his own unwillingness to tie himself down to one woman, he was a fiercely jealous lover. From his teens on, he insisted that his woman remain faithful to only him, even as he was hopping from bed to bed. If he found out that one of his women was about to stray, he would redouble his efforts to keep her, just long enough to ensure that she remained true.

When we look at these incidents, and indeed as I read his biography, it is astounding how much he was able to get away with. And as I learned more and more about the man, it was evident that these women believed they were, in some way, contributing to his art by being his servile mistress or by coddling his neediness. The German film “The Farewell,” which depicts the last days of Brecht’s life (and a lot of the type of behavior I’ve described) portrays Bertolt as a child in a man’s body, whom Helene has to mother in order to keep him on track with his art. When a mistress’ outbursts threaten to upset his work, Helene struggles to put the woman back in her proper place: at Bertolt’s beck and call. The film, obviously, is a fictionalized account of Brecht’s life, but I think it correctly captures the essence of his many relationships with his women.

Looking at Brecht’s relationships through our current mindset, we’re liable to judge him unfavorably. The man was selfish, childish, and lived what was something akin to a polygamist lifestyle. Not someone to be looked up to? But the man created great art (or at least assembled it…) and sparked a revolution on the stage with his idea of “epic theatre.” And it could be argued that his body of work would have never emerged from someone a dutiful, faithful husband.

Anyone who knows me knows I’m not one who is sold on the idea of monogamy (but I am sold on honesty), so it’s hard for me to judge him negatively. Hell, in some ways I admire the man for it. One could say that his women were victims, manipulated by a charismatic artist who made them believe they needed him more than he needed them; indeed, nothing particularly honest about that. But consider that these women, many of whom had the better part of a lifetime to deal with their love for Brecht, all were willing participants in his amorous web; in reading about his life, it seems that Brecht’s women were all to willing to give themselves emotionally in exchange for being a part of this great artist’s life, even a part of his art. I don’t think that these women would have agreed that they were victims.