The play
'Bertolt Brecht wrote Mother Courage and Her Children at the beginning of World War II in response to the devastation that he foresaw. It is a play about the futility of war. The main character is Mother Courage, she is shrewd, cynical, and quick witted but she is oblivious to her own decline throughout the play. Brecht said that as a character, Mother Courage learns nothing, absolutely nothing during the course of the play. War in fact is Mother Courage's deadly partner. She is not a heroine, she is a flawed woman. She is a women of opposites - she loves and she hates, she uses people and she cares for people; ultimately she is a woman out for herself. The play opens when she is separated from one of her children and by the end of the play she loses all three children because of her mercenary nature. Throughout the play she hopes to profit from the war without being harmed by it; she runs a canteen wagon that follows the army around and sells items to the soldiers. At the end of the play she also loses her livelihood as a trader of wares. This is also a business play because it suggests that war is the continuation of business by almost any means.' (Hatton & Lovesy, 2009, p 144- 145).
Logbook activity
Write a reflection in your logbook addressing the dot points below.
What are the themes that have emerged from this synopsis?
Why would a playwright write a play about these themes?
Why do they think the main character is called Mother Courage?
Where and what are the power dynamics in this outline? (Hatton & Lovesy 2009, p. 145).
Scene one
The entire play is foreshadowed in Scene 1. Mother Courage predicts doom for her family during her pantomime of fortune telling. Her attempts to sell things by predicting her customers' deaths only ends up in predicting her own Children's deaths. Even the manner of their deaths is provided: Eilif will die in war, Swiss Cheese due to his honesty, and Kattrin by not remaining mute. Mother Courage's song, come and buy has an ironic subtext of come and die. This is Brecht's parody. The song's brilliance lies in its accuracy; you are a soldier if you are Mother Courage's customer and consequently you will likely be sent to your death (Hatton & Lovesy, 2oo9, p.147).
Activity
Create a tableau of scene one that is:
Mother Courage and her children
The Recruiting Officer and the Sergeant
and to act out Scene l as if all the words and actions are a surprise to you. Discuss the performances with your teacher and other students, pointing out salient facts to the questions and statements below.
This acting technique is one that Brecht used in rehearsals to encourage his actors not to have fixed ideas about characters and their actions.
In Scene 1 Brecht foreshadows the death and destruction that happens in wartime, yet at times the Scene is very humorous and ironic. Why has he done this?
Brecht says the pivotal moment in the scene is when the Sergeant has assessed the physiques of Eilif and Swiss Cheese and asks Mother Courage why they are not in the army. Why might this be the pivotal moment?
Brecht's theory and practice are inseparable as evidenced in Scene 1 where the themes demonstrate social existence as it is, with an emphasis to change and challenge this social existence.
Brecht uses the word 'spectators' rather than 'audience' as he favours a social activist theatre. This means that the spectators were aware that they were in the theatre, being challenged by the ideas of Scene l and the whole play, rather than being in a theatre orientated towards a suspension of disbelief.