Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 16, 2026

Driving Out a Devil

Driving Out a Devil is an early one-act farce by the 20th-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht. It was written in prose, probably in 1919, and was first published in volume 13 of Brecht's Stücke. The play charts the attempts of a self-confident and manipulative Bavarian peasant boy to outwit the vigilant parents of a girl of his village. Ronald Hayman suggests that this play dramatises most clearly Brecht's own ability to influence people.

Last revised
Jun 16, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
249 w
Citations
4
Source
Wikipedia ↗
Driving Out a Devil
Written byBertolt Brecht
Original languageGerman
GenreOne-act farce
SettingBavaria

Driving Out a Devil (German: Er treibt den Teufel aus) is an early one-act farce by the 20th-century German dramatist Bertolt Brecht.1 It was written in prose, probably in 1919, and was first published in volume 13 of Brecht's Stücke.2 The play charts the attempts of a self-confident and manipulative Bavarian peasant boy to outwit the vigilant parents of a girl of his village.3 Ronald Hayman suggests that this play dramatises most clearly Brecht's own ability to influence people.4

References

References

  1. Brecht (1994). The play's title is sometimes translated as He's Driving Out a Devil; see Hayman (1983, 50).
  2. Thomson and Sacks (1994, xvii) and Willett (1967, 27).
  3. Hayman (1983, 50-51).
  4. Hayman writes that the play shows us "the way Brecht imposed his will on both women and men" (1983, 50).
Sources

Sources

  • Brecht, Bertolt. 1994. Collected Plays: One. Ed. John Willett and Ralph Manheim. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry, Prose Ser. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-413-68570-5.
  • Hayman, Ronald. 1983. Brecht: A Biography. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson. ISBN 0-297-78206-1.
  • Thomson, Peter and Glendyr Sacks, eds. 1994. The Cambridge Companion to Brecht. Cambridge Companions to Literature Ser. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-41446-6.
  • Willett, John. 1967. The Theatre of Bertolt Brecht: A Study from Eight Aspects. Third rev. ed. London: Methuen, 1977. ISBN 0-413-34360-X.
  • Willett, John and Ralph Manheim. 1970. Introduction. In Collected Plays: One by Bertolt Brecht. Ed. John Willett and Ralph Manheim. Bertolt Brecht: Plays, Poetry and Prose Ser. London: Methuen. ISBN 0-416-03280-X. vii–xvii.