7-dr.-swati-tande
7-dr.-swati-tande
7-dr.-swati-tande
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The dominant mode of expression in the twentieth century is realism. It embraces all
writings in which the natural world is candidly presented, particularly the Post-World War
drama. It is the affiliation of democratic reformism, of the new concern with the condition of
the people. The Post-World War playwrights deal with the disturbing social problems such as
poverty, disharmony and war. Bertolt Bretch utilized the drama to awaken a smug and
indifferent world to fulfill a sense of social responsibility. His Mother Courage and Her
Children is one of the illustrious creation. It is at once representation of and a brilliant
vindication of Brecht’s criticism of Post-World War society. He gave the subtitle to this play as
A Chronicle of the Thirty years War. From the subtitle of the play, it seems that the play has a
historical background but this is not a historical play because the dramatic personae are not
historical personages. The characters are all fictitious persons. The historical personages are
only mentioned in the stage directions; they are referred in the course of dialogues by some of
the fictitious characters.
However, the play has the historical importance and the significance of it, lies in bringing
to our minds the havoc and the devastation that the Thirty Years War caused. The war is called
as the Thirty Years War as it was ranged over Europe from 1618 to 1648. Mother Courage and
her children and other characters of the play are representative of the common people who
suffered physically and mentally in the offshoot of war. Brecht succeeded in portraying the
horrifying picture of Post-World War society. Talking about the description of war Brian says_
Healthy, challenging, intensely sad. I was lost at
first, wondering whether I even cared. By the end,
my heart was broken and my brain-gears working
overtime. Highly recommended one of the best
plays I have read.1
Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children is entirely original though he may have had
in mind some literary antecedents. The name of Brecht’s central figure derives from the work of
the same period by Grimmelshausen called The Life the Arch Imposter and Adventure Courage,
which also provide a horrific torture of war. This particular viewpoint seems identical with
Brecht’s who drew upon both the works for background and atmosphere in writing his famous
play Mother Courage and Her Children.
The title of the play itself creates the image of a formidable woman possessing several
admirable qualities. Mother Courage the central character of the play produces a mingled
impression upon the readers of the play. Brecht depicts mother with admirable qualities as well
as certain weaknesses. The root cause of her suffering is in some of her faults, weaknesses and
surroundings. The playwright reflects war as a continuation of human business. Christopher
Michael Sperberg noticed Brecht’s efforts to relate business with war:
Brecht works hard to connect business and the
bourgeois with war because it is Courage’s denial of
that connection which destroys her.2
The story proceeds and ends with the two thoughts, the business in war and war for
business. In this tale, Anna Fierling has a name as ‘Mother Courage’. She is a camp follower
who in her small way helps the prosecution of the Thirty Years War by providing shoes, ale and
commodities for the soldiers. Mother Courage creates an appropriate protagonist while the play
has two major themes. The first theme is of war and second is of motherhood. It is an anti-war
play, which conveys the futility of war and at the same time, deals with the role and glory of
motherhood.
Throughout the play, from beginning to the end, Brecht focused clearly on war and
motherhood. When the play opens, Mother Courage is found in tension. Her tension is because
of her full awareness of the dangers of war and her maternal anxiety about the safety of her
sons. In the opening scene by singing a song, Mother Courage invites soldiers to buy food.
Through the same song, she also warns soldiers, of the premature deaths that they are doomed
to meet. She calls upon the soldiers wording metaphorically the line of her song that they are to
fill the hole in their bellies before they fill the holes underground.
Mother Courage finds that, the Recruiting Officer and the Sergeant are very keen to enlist
her sons in the army. She not only warns them but also threatens them by drawing her knife,
against any such move. This opening scene evidently tells how the story of the play revolves
around these two themes. The theme of war reflects its dangers and the theme of motherhood
reflects the anxiety of a mother about the safety of her children.
The theme of the war is developed with the heroic action of Eilif and the faithful
description of the cruelty of war. Eilif sings a song that develops the idea of heroism in war and
a soldier’s premature death. War means merciless killing because Eilif had cut down his
enemies with his sword. War also brings about a shortage of food and especially of meat.
A little later, on meeting Eilif after a long time Mother Courage expresses her great joy.
She also boxes Eilif’s ear for having risked his life in the fighting. This action shows a mother’s
anxiety about the safety of her son as well as her joy at his heroic deed. Through this
contradiction in Mother Courage, Brecht successfully interlinks the theme of war and
motherhood placing both the themes on the test of danger and death. This contradiction is one
part of the alienation technique, aiming at the closer view of life and living.
Mother Courage points out the evils of war and the corruption that prevails among the
army officers. In an ironical way she says, as long as there is corruption, there will be merciful
judges. Even the innocent may go free. Certainly, Mother Courage wanted her son to be honest
but like a wise a mother, she warns him against being too honest to survive. Swiss Cheese
sacrifices his life in order to save the cash box of his regiment from falling into hands of enemy.
She endures the death of Swiss Cheese in a stoical manner.
Her deepest maternal love is expressed through her conversation with Chaplain. In the
whole play, this speech is the most poignant. It reveals that Kattrin’s dumbness had been caused
by a soldier when she was yet a child. She says, “I’ll not see Swiss Cheese again, and where my
Eilif is, the Good Lord knows. Curse the war!” This speech expresses a mother’s deepest love
and sense of protection for her children. Human resentment against a war is pictorially
conveyed to the audience.
Mother Courage realizes the cruelty of war. She is aware of destructiveness and terrible
misfortunes that have befallen in her personal life. The contradictions in Mother Courage are
perceived throughout the play. Once she praises the war for feeding its people better than peace
does. Immediately in the very next utterance, she shows her resentment and warns the soldiers
of the premature death they would meet. She considers herself as ruined by peace.
The lament of Mother Courage provokes the Chaplain to describe her as a hyena of the
battlefield. Mother Courage sings another song inviting men to join the army in order to fight
and continue the war. At the same time unaware of Eilif’s death, she hopes to see him. Here
again the contradiction between the desire of Mother Courage for the continuation of war and
her awareness of destructiveness of war is emphasized.
As the course of action proceeds to the end of the play, Mother Courage faces a painful
dilemma. She for a while thinks of going with the Cook to his native town. She dreams of
leading a life of leisure and ease, with him. However, the Cook is not ready to allow Mother
Courage to take Kattrin with her. Therefore, she decides to forego the opportunity to settle
down to a comfortable life that is offered by the Cook. Her decision, once again shows a
mother’s genuine love for her child. She forsakes the Cook to look after her dumb daughter.
Kattrin with all her motherly love for people around desires obviously not to obstruct her
mother’s happiness. In Kattrin’s dream of making her mother happy and Mother Courage’s
sacrifice of personal life in choice with her children takes the theme of motherhood and
compassion to its highest manifestation.
The attitude of Mother Courage points out that, circumstances always force human
beings to accept compromises in living. The continuation of war leads both Mother Courage
and Kattrin undergo the hard toil of pulling the wagon. It is remarkable that neither of them
complain or grumble about their hardships. Despite of all the misfortunes Mother Courage has
suffered consequential to war, she could not give up her dangerous profession.
The two themes, of motherhood and anti-war compassion for humanity subsequently give
rise to the third theme that is the sense of loss. In Mother Courage and Her Children, Brecht
mirrored the horror of destitution in the Post-World War world. The destitution consequential to
the world war creates multiple issues for people in struggle for life. The pauperism deprived the
spirit of life from common people. The central character and some of the other characters suffer
from the sense of loss.
In the chaos of war, Mother Courage has to face the loss of her three children one by one.
Though her live asset of her three children has been vanquished by the war but not her spirit.
Perhaps it may be her miseries which made her heart as hard as stone. In Sperberg’s opinion_
Brecht apparently wished to clarify the conflict
between business and humanitarianism, to show
how her business and the loss of her son have
hardened Courage’s heart, and to make Courage
less likable.3
Above words of Sperberg assert that the heart of Mother Courage gets hard and hardened
with increase in her miseries. Not just Mother but others too faced various and different loss as
the life tosses in war field. First the Chaplain and then the Cook loses the expected love of
Mother Courage and Yvetti has to suffer the loss of her virginity. The sense of loss of these
characters makes their survival difficult for them. Among these characters particularly Mother
Courage and Yvetti after all their sorrowful loss and suffering, have enough spirit for their
survival. Their spirit of endurance and their determination to face the coming ordeals of life are
appreciative. In this play, Brecht succeeds in exalting motherhood as accomplishing its anti-war
theme and the resulting sense of loss.
References
1. Brian. Mother Courage and her Children. Germany: Penguin Classics, 2007, p.27
2. Sperberg Christopher. Approaching Mother Courage. California: Stanford University, 1979,
p. 22.
3. Ibid. 29.
4. Matt John. Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and her Children. Germany: Suhrkamp
Verlag, 1951