Marat/Sade, the Investigation, and the Shadow of the Coachman's Body (German Library) [Hardcover]

Peter Weiss (Author), Robert Cohen (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0826409628 | ISBN-13: 978-0826409621 | Publication Date: July 1998

In the mid-1960s, "The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Perfomed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Chernton under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade" was made into a film by British director Peter Brook. The weaving of space, time, plot, real and imagined characters, sexual liberation, and surrealist imagery made "Marat/Sade" a sensation. Little did audiences realize that this "counterculture" play was actually written by a German Jew. The then practically unknown Peter Weiss (1916-82) was also at work on a play about Auschwitz - "The Investigation" - which is one of the most significant literary treatments of the subject. Both plays, plus "The Shadow of the Coachman's Body" are included in this volume.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

About the Author

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 324 pages
• Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group (July 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0826409628
• ISBN-13: 978-0826409621
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,235,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A play where surrealism and disenchantment clash, February 1, 2001

By 

Gina DeGiovanni (Phila., PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marat/Sade, The Investigation, The Shadow of the Body of the Coachman: Peter Weiss (German Library) (Paperback)

When the character of Marquis de Sade shouts out at Marat, "Can't you see this patriotism is lunacy/Long ago I left heroics to the heroes/I turn my back on this nation/I turn my back on all the nations. . ." the reader can truly sense what the play of Marat/Sade is all about. As the reader gets lost in the production of a play within a play, the idea of surrealism presents itself almost at once. The reenactment of the killing of Jean-Paul Marat by Charlotte Corday seems to be a secondary plot alongside of the chanting and screaming of idealism concerning the revolution and liberty. A division of strategies regarding revolution develops between Marat and Sade. Marat advocates fast action, while Sade preaches that it is hopeless or fruitless to even bother to act. Of course, the cries of the asylum patients tend to distract, but it all adds to the surreal, bizarre nature of the play. I felt that one of the aspects the play touches on is how the revolution affects those living within it. The ideas of liberty, freedom, and revolution all make for interesting debate, but I felt one of the themes that struck me was the reality of revolution as it affects those who live around it day in and day out. One of the more striking scenes of the play, for me, came when Charlotte is in the middle of a monologue, describing children playing with toy-like guillotines. The very idea of children treating such a deathly object as a toy is disturbing, but also brings to life the desensitization that revolution brings about. The play reminds the reader that the death of masses makes the value of life and the impact of an individual death meaningless. That alone is a very somber and surreal thought. There are literary techniques throughout the play that seem to remind the reader that the dramatization depicts things which took place in the past, but threaten to become a part of our future. Marat/Sade attempts to mock the aristocratic classes that seem to catalyze such mass movements of revolution in the first place. The play seems to slap the hand of those in power through the action that takes place throughout. Every time that the characters in the play (the asylum patients) seem to become too excited or outspoken, when the truth behind their madness seems to get out of control, the "Herald" of the play speaks out to placate Coulmier, the director of the asylum. I believe that Weiss tries to make the play more socially acceptable by presenting it in a way that mocks and brings out the weakness of the debacle of government that followed, in this case, the French Revolution, but actually cuts across so many more layers than just one isolated revolution.

Our society will always have people who have large amounts of material wealth, and those who do not. That is an injustice that we must rise above, and change ourselves. Whether our means of change is reached through violence and upheaval or through escape within oneself, this is the core dialectic that the play tackles. Although at times this play is a little hard to follow or even outlandish, the play offers a look at how society deals with its corruption and injustice once it escalates to what may seem to be a point of no return. The element that seems to be the most surreal in my mind is that the ranting of the characters within the play, although they are asylum patients, reveal more truth and brutal honesty than the audience would like to admit. I think Weiss is clever to choose some very clear and controversial themes and present them in a way that is socially appropriate. He does this by blatantly speaking out against established forms of government and rule, but discrediting the characters speaking by placing them in an insane asylum. It is true to say that there are many elements of the play that never seem to completely gel in the end, or come together nicely as in most plays. But to be honest, if the story had come together neatly in the end, the essence of the play would have been lost. I think the point of the play is to show that although people may have conflicting ideals of how to handle a revolution, whether of government or ideology, things do not always work out as we had hoped. People may preach liberty and justice, but when the reality is murder and riots, there are two conflicting messages being handled at once. I believe that is what this play shows rather well. In a very surreal and bizarre way, Weiss enables the reader to see that society hardly ever practices what they preach, and although our goal might be change, in the end, upheaval and disarray may be the only things truly achieved.

11 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars good play, September 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Marat/Sade, The Investigation, The Shadow of the Body of the Coachman: Peter Weiss (German Library) (Paperback)

The world in which we live operates on systems of inequalities which are overtly justified by the minor inequalities of people's intellegence, motivation, appearance, etc. However, the relative personal inequalities among people are in no way commensurate with the unequal material conditions in which we live, to a degree which is often tragic and criminal in the truest sense of that word.

In Peter Weis's play "Marat/Sade", the character Marquis de Sade states that it was in trying to understand our criminal society, and personally disadvantaged by self-hatred, he became a criminal himself, and this outsider position forced him to focus on personal escape through brilliant, inventive, one-time sensual or artistic acts. The character Jean Paul Marat, more of an idealist, believed escape could only be successful if everyone escaped together, through the restructuring of all of society, by sudden powerful intervention. These two approaches are opposite. Everyone agrees that sure, the world could be better, but the question of "how" leads to conflict. This is the central conflict of "Marat Sade", one of the world's greatest conflicts, and I think it is fascinating.

1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Marat/Sade, February 1, 2001

By 

Patrick Faraday (Philadelphia, PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Marat/Sade, The Investigation, The Shadow of the Body of the Coachman: Peter Weiss (German Library) (Paperback)

Marat/Sade, by Peter Weiss, is a play centering on the murder of Jean Paul Marat. Weiss sets the play in the Asylum of Charenton, where both Marat and the Marquis de Sade are inmates. Before reading this play, I did not have much knowledge of Marquis de Sade or Jean Paul Marat. The French Revolution was a topic that I had studied, however not these members specifically. For the reading of this work, not much understanding of these ideas is needed. Some knowledge of Modernism would be helpful for insight into the motivation and reasoning of the play, however that is not needed either. The plot of the play is very thin and does not do much for the reader. There does not seem to be much action involved in the play. The characters mainly discuss and wax philosophical about the French Revolution and whether or not it was successful. It is the characters themselves and the dialogue that are most intriguing. Characters that are patients in the asylum are the driving force of the work. Many off the wall topics and rants are shouted by any number of patients. Clever use of the director of the asylum gives the reader a better sense of how a play produced in an asylum might work out. The format of the work is what seems to be an extended poem. The rhyme scheme, which is at points non-existent, can be carried from one character to the next. This is at times confusing, however it does give the work a somewhat psychotic feel. The work is a relatively easy read, however it does at times get to be a bit confusing. Because the plot is so thin, the reader is bombarded with confusing dialogue, rather than constant flowing action. The work leaves something to desired, as the reader waits for some twist of fate or action that may create some interest. Personally, I was not impressed with the work as a whole from an entertainment aspect. However as a writer I could see the work is definitely that of a talented author. There is a political aspect to the work that focuses around Sade. The many conversations between Marat and Sade focus on the Revolution and its positives and negatives. Commentary is given on the state of affairs during this time, as well as the idea that revolutions do not work on a general basis. Other such ideals are discussed throughout the work, however Sade seems to be more of a reactionary and Marat seems to be more of an idealist. On a whole this work does accomplish its goals in discussing sadism and other such ideas. Modernistic works such as this, often do not have much entertainment value, however they are quite intellectual and original; the two best points of this work.