The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
Brief Overview
In Bertolt Brecht’s satirical parable "The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui," an allegorical drama unfolds on the grim streets of Chicago, where the sinister shadow of a dictator comes to life in the figure of the petty gangster Arturo Ui. Skillfully weaving motifs of the gangster underworld into the fabric of a political fable, the author shows how, step by step, through intrigue, blackmail, and violence, Ui subjugates the vegetable market and then the entire city. Beneath the grotesque mask lies a merciless satire of the rise of totalitarianism, where every character is merely a puppet in the hands of an ambitious upstart. Brecht masterfully exposes the mechanisms of seizing power, turning Arturo Ui’s story into a warning about how easily society can give way to tyranny if it fails to recognize it at its inception.
