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Bertold Brecht, [1898-1956] was a German dramatist
and poet . He based his 1949 play, THE
CAUCASIAN CHALK CIRCLE, on a German play, “Der Kreidekreis”
[The Circle of Chalk] by Klabund in 1924 which was based on a an
ancient Chinese play by Li Xingdao, [1206-1368] entitled “Hui
Lan Ji”. [The Story of the Chalk Circle].
Brecht situates the play in the Caucasus Mountains of Soviet Georgia.
The tale, about two women arguing over the possession of a child,
also calls up the biblical tale "The Judgment of Solomon“ [Book
of Kings (3:16-28)].
The play begins with a governor and his family fleeing a bloody
coup leaving behind their infant son in a rush to collect their
material possessions. A kitchen servant rescues the child from certain
death and raises him as her own in a mountain village.
When the governor's family is restored to power, the governor's
widow wants the heir to the throne back. The two women are then
brought to a judge to determine who should keep the child. The judge
orders a bailiff to draw a chalk circle on the floor, big enough
for three people to stand in. He then commands that the child be
brought into the circle. The child cries and clings to the servant.
The judge says that the procedure was one that he found in an ancient
text and found to be appropriate. The main idea behind the test
of the chalk circle, is that the real mother will reveal her love
for her child. She will prove the force of her love.
The bailiff takes the child's hand and leads him to the circle.
He tells the two women to place themselves on opposite sides of
the child and to each hold one of his hands. He tells them both
to pull the child towards themselves and out of the circle on his
signal. The one who loves the child the most will pull with the
greatest force and she will have custody.
The governor's widow, pulling with all her might, succeeds in bringing
the child out of the circle as the servant had immediately let go,
horrified at the force of her opponent's pulls. She had been afraid
that the child would be hurt by the force of two opposing pulls.
The judge proclaims that it is evident who the real mother is.
He tells the bailiff to take the child away from the governor’s
widow adding; “She would rip him to pieces in a heartbeat.”
With a nod of his head — and apparently a blink of an eye according
to the locals — he motions to the servant and leaves to eat
his lunch. 1
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