"MOTHER COURAGE"   Term Paper ID:19838 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: (Bertolt Brecht). Protaganist's role as heroine & as symbol of modern human beings' struggle to survive.... More...

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Paper Abstract: (Bertolt Brecht). Protaganist's role as heroine & as symbol of modern human beings' struggle to survive. Paper Introduction: "MOTHER COURAGE" The playwright Bertolt Brecht described the title character of his play "Mother Courage" as "a negative, villainous character," yet she emerges for most audiences as a heroine, one who is forced into profiteering and cowardice by war. It is true that Mother Courage is an itinerant merchant who lives off the troops of both sides during the Thirty Years' War. She lives by her wits to make sure that her family remains intact. Her wagon of goods is a symbol of her family's survival, as well as the literal means by which they exist. It is the THESIS of this paper that Mother Courage fits both Brecht's description and her role as a heroine: she is a realist who, because she lives off war, is partially responsible for the death of her family. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. New York: Grove, 1987.Brecht, Bertolt. The quote at the beginning of this paper is discussed in MartinEsslin's essay on Brecht, "The Uses of Commitment." It is true that AnnaFierling, who is called Mother Courage, does provide shoes, ale, andcomforts for the soldiers. Kindness is theironly chance for liberty" (Weideli 8 ). All of this reminds the audience that Brecht often was not concernedwith plays that centered on character. It is worth taking a look at one of the more seminal scenes in theplay, the one in which Mother Courage's deaf and simple daughter,Catherine, is killed. She knows that we may not survive, but it isour duty to "get out of bed" and get back in the race. Bertolt Brecht: His Life, His Art and His Times. This is in keeping with Charles R. Through Mother Courage, Brecht isable to make a very serious comment about man's struggle to survive in themodern world. And more than 5 yearsafter its first production, "Mother Courage" still has great impact. It is the THESIS of this paperthat Mother Courage fits both Brecht's description and her role as aheroine: she is a realist who, because she lives off war, is partiallyresponsible for the death of her family. "Mother Courage" was Brecht's statement that said:being part of the war may make you money, but it may also take yourchildren from you. Yet he will include a character such as the physicallyflawed Catherine, giving her a purity that he hopes will inspire theaudience. She continues hertrade, and as the final curtain falls she is seen dragging her cart acrossthe stage to catch up with the advancing army" (Esslin 233-4). Despite the catastrophic ending ... Many people would call this philosophy "villainous," and Brecht triesto present it without judgment. Bertolt Brecht: The Despair and the Polemic. On she marches with her wagon after all that has happened,a symbol of the way humanity itself goes on its way after all that hashappened" (Bentley 157). MotherCourage remains the symbol of the survivor: this is Brecht's definition ofnobility in the years that led up to World War II and the Holocaust. It enslaves the common person, who is personified by MotherCourage. Therefore, by being a realist, MotherCourage is something of a heroine: she is able to endure, which has its ownnoble qualities in an era of self-destruction. Martin's, 1987.Weideli, Walter. In thisclimate, the Scandi.navian countries (where Brecht was living in exile)were ready to collaborate in order to profit from the war. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 1968.Speirs, Ronald. On the other hand, she was a courageous woman whowas realistically trying to adapt to conditions beyond her control. Againit was Brecht's genius not to judge Mother Courage too harshly, but toessentially show her as representative. Brecht'smessage was that it was not possible to play with fire without gettingburned. He is stating first and foremost that the war is a reality. It wasthe momentum of history that would give Hitler the opportunity to dominatethe German people and make them feel important once again. In this play, Brecht explored the boundaries ofthat compromise, but ultimately he left it up to the audience to determinewhat was "right" and what was "wrong." What Brecht feels is necessary to portray in his drama is the factthat Mother Courage is a complex figure. This is not a fatalistic viewpoint fromBrecht. Brechthad a distinct point of view, but he was an artist first and this alwaysovershadowed any dogmatic tendencies he might have had as a politicalpolemicist. there were moments ofaffirmation as well" (Gray 122). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976.Lyons, Charles R. The moral to his story was that these profits would take theirtoll: no one profits from war without some type of sacrifice. Lyons' interpretation thatthe song "projects her own use of war and a coldly realistic attitudetowards life itself, an honest confrontation with the inevitability ofdeath" (Lyons 91). Brecht hated war and, though he may have said that histitle character was "villainous," it is clear that he found her farsuperior to the masters of war who had placed her in the position she wasin. On one hand hesaw her as "villainous," profitting from the war, just as the Scandinaviancountries wanted to do. By using the Thirty Years' War, Brecht wanted to shed light on thecontemporary scene. In the scene on the battlefieldshe has the personality of a hyena, a scavenger who preys on the situationby drawing on the worse instincts of mankind. It is true that Mother Courage is anitinerant merchant who lives off the troops of both sides during the ThirtyYears' War. This is whyMother Courage is an interesting character, because she has a way ofjustifying her selfishness. New York: Citadel, 1967.Gray, Ronald. Walter Weideli has a valid interpretation of this scene. Unselfishness is a very rare virtue,it simply doesn't pay" (Brecht 32 ). So Mother Courage can finally be summed up both by Brecht's label andby the facts of the play that show her as a realist who is committed tosurvival. She is what might be calledthe "merchant-mother," a divided being who displays crass self-interest andmaternal caring within the same context. He saysthat "Brecht is only too well aware of the weakness and duplicity of thepoor, but he also knows that they alone will be able, in the finalanalysis, to outsmart, upset, and master the inhuman. He was a political writer and, assuch, his plays were about historic situations and their impact on humanbeings. There was little or nopatriotism that would stir the playwright, and he saw Hitler's rise inEurope as the evil that was inevitable after the Treaty of Versailles afterWorld War I had restricted Germany's power to such a large degree. And thoughyou may not survive/Get out of bed and look alive!" (Brecht 33 ). "MOTHER COURAGE" The playwright Bertolt Brecht described the title character of hisplay "Mother Courage" as "a negative, villainous character," yet sheemerges for most audiences as a heroine, one who is forced intoprofiteering and cowardice by war. Brecht is inspiring because he is able to create very solid humanemotions on the stage, and at the same time he is able to leave theaudience with enough ambiguity so they will be in a position to make uptheir own minds about what the lessons are that have to be learned. Ronald Speirs understood this interpretation, and he articulated itwell in his essay entitled "Mother Courage and her Children." Speirs saidthat "the moral of the play -- that 'you need a big pair of scissors tomake a cut from a war'-- had particular relevance to Germany's lesspowerful Northern neighbours, as did its setting in the Thirty years' War(1618-1648)" (Speirs 91). In this way many would label her a scavenger.Brecht's label of her as a negative, villainous character may have been oneof the reasons that he "punished" her by having her lose her threechildren. Brecht'smethod was creating a character who did not have the insight to understandher motives, but who stood for the common response in times of war. Towardthe end of the play Brecht presents "The Song of the Wise and Good." In itare the following lyrics: "For the virtues are dangerous in this world, you're better offwithout, you have a nice life... In Eric Bentley's collection of essays on Brecht, there is theobservation that Mother Courage is indeed essentially courageous."Tennessee Williams has written of the final moment of Brecht's play as oneof the inspiring moments in all theater-- inspiring because of the woman'sindomitability. On a third level, he found itdistasteful that there were countries who were ready to take sides withGermany, casting aside morals and ethics in order to fill their nationaltreasury. He did know that it was wise to gointo exile, to flee from Hitler's tyranny. What is important to remember in examining "Mother Courage" is thatBrecht considered his title character and her dual nature. Brecht is dealing with arelative morality in his play, and his title character is used to showman's (and woman's) difficulty in finding an ethical behavior in a worldthat has gone insane. Mother Courage knows that a miracle could save all of humanity,but miracles have had their day. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1962.Esslin, Martin. The Art of Bertolt Brecht. It is Esslin's analysis that "having sacrificed her family toher commercial instinct, she fails to learn her lesson. It is worth considering another aspect of Brecht's play and the factthat it was first performed in 1939. It is true that Mother Courage loses three of her children as theyare sacrificed in the war. With these words, Brecht sums up a great deal of his philosophy inthe play. Brecht: The Man and His Work. This is why, when Catherine iskilled in the play, the lieutenant at first replies that "so that ends thenoise, but the more astute soldier has the last word by stating that 'shemade ie'" (Brecht 328). It is his realism speaking out, when he knew that there werefactors in the world that were impossible for a single person to combat.(He was, after all, living in exile, due to the rise of the Nazis inGermany. Ronald Gray saw how Mother Courage's duality was symbolized by thesunlight: "This dual aspect of the beneficent yet ensnaring sunlight was areflection of the duality running through every scene and in all the majorthemes. She lives by her wits to make sure that her family remainsintact. Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 196 .Ewen, Frederic. Her wagon of goods is a symbol of her family's survival, as wellas the literal means by which they exist. Brecht: The Dramatist. Itappears that he was using her as the play's main symbolic character becausehe felt that she was most representative of mankind. Itis the work of governments and the self-interest of dictators andpoliticians. Brecht: A Collection of Critical Essays. Mother Courage's finalstatement is to persevere. It is true that she is unable toprotect her children from the horrors of war. He may well haveapplauded the heroism of Catherine, at the same time he meted out war'sjustice to her by having her shot. New York: St. Frederic Ewen was convinced that "the characters are crushed by thehistorical circumstances they do not understand or fathom. By focusing on the ThirtyYears' War, Brecht is able to show man at his best and worst. Catherine dies while she is beating a drum, and thissaves the children of a city that the enemy is about to surprise.Catherine does know that her mother is in the city, but her act of braverytakes its place in a larger perspective than than of the bonds of blood. While Esslin gets his description right, this reader believes that hefails to see the "courage" in mother Courage. Works CitedBentley, Eric. Bertolt Brecht. Starvation, filth, and cold enslave us ...only a miracle can save us/And miracles have had their day ... He places her at the center of thedrama because it is his intention that she is at the core of mankind'sbasic instincts. New York: Grove, 1961.Demetz, Peter, ed. Some of Mother Courage's last words are as follows: "The wartakes hold and will not quit... As Esslin concludes: "Brecht wanted this last scene to arouse thespectator's indignation that such blindness and stupidity were possible"(Esslin 234). The Brecht Commentaries 1943-1986. Brecht in his own life had no use tostay in Germany and fight the Nazis. Seven Plays by Bertolt Brecht. We're told to be unselfish and share whatwe have, but what if we have nothing? It was part of life to endure, and Brecht saw that this entailedsome form of compromise. For Brecht, all wars were the same. By showing this duality, Brecht gave a realistic account ofhuman nature in the face of war. While Brecht did see Mother Courageas better than those who would wage war, he also saw her as a symbol of theneutral-at-the-time countries and citizens who were ready to collaboratewith Hitler during World War II because they felt that it would beprofitable to do so. Part of Brecht's message was that war was inevitable:it was those at the top who waged it for their own interests. This is an especially true statement because, inthe course of the play, Mother Courage loves her entire family, and eachmember is a victim of his own heroic action. This is the price that she has to pay, on apersonal level. New York: New York University Press, 1963.----------------------- 6 For Brecht, mankind had a dual nature,and so it was not a contradiction for him to call Mother Courage"villainous" and at the same time give her her name without a sense ofirony. But Brecht didn't completely identify with Mother Courage. It can be said that the playpresents a deeply moving tragedy for the audience: "that here is fearfulcontradiction survived that destroyed a human being, a contradiction thatcould be resolved, but only by society itself and in long, terriblebattles" (Demetz 14 ). But sinceBrecht identified with the "little people," he wanted to make sure that hepresented the case for the fact that it was just those "little people" whomade it possible for others to wage wars. His is a modern sensibility, as he knowsthat the world is rarely black and white, good and evil. His was a cautionary tale that did notforce the audience to adopt a certain ideology. Mother Courageherself is the prime example of that blindness" (Ewen 355). In this way Brecht is part of the existentialmovement. Brecht cannot condemn anyone who is so powerless in life for feelingthis way. "The Song of Mother Courage" is one of realism, and it gives theaudience the philosophy by which the title character conducts her life."Though you may not long survive,/Get out of bed and look alive!" (Brecht261). If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.