Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Character of mother courage
Character of mother courage
Themes in mother courage
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Character of mother courage
Context in Mother Courage and her Children by Brecht
There are many different contexts to the play and they are all
influenced by social, cultural and historical implications. The
context of the play itself and how it was written and performed for
the first time and now were all influenced by events that occurred in
Brecht’s life. The play itself discusses the thirty year war but is a
clear reflection of the Second World War. Brecht believed that the war
only took place for the economic benefit of the government and decided
to portray this within his work. Marxism was the influence that gave
Brecht hope that there was good within humans although some needed
re-awakening. Therefore his objective was to make people aware of this
and he did this through a process of alienation. The play Mother
Courage and her Children was Brecht putting his ideas into practice as
the whole play involves alienation and concentration on the political
message being portrayed.
Brecht’s work was banned from Germany and some of his performances
were even disrupted by police and due to the portrayal of the war
through his work his plays were socially unacceptable. Due to this
social implication the context of Brecht’s play itself conveyed the
true nature of the war to its extremes and this decision is clearly
apparent in Mother Courage and her Children. The Chaplin was observed
as the ironic hypocrite whom represented religion but was too scared
to stand up for what he believe...
Throughout the play Bennett reviles Doris’ character by showing her affection to the past, she talks to old photographs of her dead husband, Wilfred, and talks aloud to him. This indicates Doris’ apparent loneliness and how she feels “left behind” by the rest of her generation. When talking about the people she new in the past like Wilfred, she takes on there voice, this shows how she...
correlates to the condition of society during the fifties, and conveys a momentous idea that the people living during this time should have faith in God and hope for the betterment of society in times of hardships, and should not focus on the injustice in the world. First, the reference to the death of millions of innocent people in the bombings of London, Hiroshima, and Dresden outrightly relates to the suffering that people have experienced both during and after the war, because many people innocent perished in WWII for no reason. In addition, David’s death also parallels to the post-WWII era, and relates to J.B. and Sarah’s responses to his death to the pain and devastation that families suffered when their young children who served as soldiers died in World War II. J.B. and Sarah’s discussion during their Thanksgiving meal is yet another parallel to the postwar era and portrays the two different outlooks that people had on life after the war. Finally, MacLeish uses J.B. to relate to the people living during the postwar era by concluding the play with J.B. and Sarah finding comfort in love and rebuilding their life together as a family to convey the message that they should try to alleviate their hardships and sorrow by viewing the situation optimistically and by seeking love in the
The mother is a selfish and stubborn woman. Raised a certain way and never falters from it. She neglects help, oppresses education and persuades people to be what she wants or she will cut them out of her life completely. Her own morals out-weight every other family member’s wants and choices. Her influence and discipline brought every member of the family’s future to serious-danger to care to her wants. She is everything a good mother isn’t and is blind with her own morals. Her stubbornness towards change and education caused the families state of desperation. The realization shown through the story is the family would be better off without a mother to anchor them down.
...display how the average citizen would see war for the first time. Colonel Kelly sees her as “vacant and almost idiotic. She had taken refuge in deaf, blind, unfeeling shock” (Vonnegut 100). To a citizen who even understands the war process, war is still heinous and dubiously justified when viewed first hand. The man who seems to have coldly just given away her son’s life without the same instinct as her has participated in this heinous wartime atrocity for so long, but it only affect her now because she cannot conceive of the reality of it until it is personally in front of her. That indicates a less complete political education of war even among those who war may have affected their entire lives. The closeness and the casualties of this “game” will affect her the most because she has to watch every move that previously could have been kept impartial and unviewed.
Throughout In the Time of the Butterflies Minerva not only displays an immense amount of courage but inspires courage in others. Ranging from her own acts of courage, such as slapping the president and pinching herself to prevent being scared, to moments where she inspires courage in others, such as being one of the leaders of the revolution , Minerva bold display of courage remains throughout the entirety of the story
A general air of superficiality invades the production. Why? Unless done with reality, the play loses its “tam” (Yiddish for taste), fringes on mockery of the way of life being depicted, and weakens the accomplishment of the author’s purpose.
human race of the 20th century is birth control. It’s because birth control has increased women’s rights by
I chose this passage because it’s relatable. There are a lot of people in our lives that represent strength to us. Often it’s our parents, but not always. In Elie’s case, his father was someone who was always strong. This is only just the beginning for them, and his father’s strength is already breaking down. I imagine that in this moment, Elie really realized the magnitude of the situation. If this is enough to make his father cry, it must be really serious. I also relate to the father. I have read this book several times before: in high school, college, and after college. I’ve never really thought of it from the father’s perspective before. He has the responsibility of not only thinking of his own fate, but that of his family.
Brecht argues that the ultimate purpose of play is to induce pleasure and to entertain, and that--because of this purpose--play needs no justification. Plays should not be simply copied from or seen through older performances, but need to develop on their own to better relate to a new audience. Through the use of alienation which aims to make the familiar unfamiliar, play and theatre can be seen under a new perspective, and the actor can feel more free to perform under a new guise.
Women throughout time have been forced to cope with the challenges of motherhood along with society’s expectations as to what a mother’s relationship should be with her child. Novelist, Agatha Christie said of the relationship between mother and child, “A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity, it dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.” In Beloved, Toni Morrison examines the same idea; ultimately showing that the mother’s willingness to protect her child at all costs often endangers the mother herself. Beloved is set in the late 1800’s but Sethe’s experiences as a mother ring true with the experiences of mothers throughout time because the act of being a mother is timeless. As a child Sethe was separated from her mother both physically and mentally because of slavery, so when she has her own children she is determined to keep her family together. In her attempt to free herself and her children from slavery Sethe finds herself separated from her daughter, Beloved as a result of Beloved’s death. When Beloved returns, Sethe’s guilt causes her to overcompensate for their lost time. Her attempts to make up for this lost time with Beloved lead her to become too dependent on her children’s happiness and to abandon any of her own pursuits in favor of ensuring that her children are content. She gives her children everything she has, but is eventually sucked dry with nothing left to give. This struggle is similar to the struggle of modern women who must leave their children while they work then try to make up for the lost time when they are home. From the time they are girls women are led to believe that more important than their happiness, is their respo...
Resentment. Hate. Injustice. These feelings and actions are what inspired Bertolt Brecht to write the play The Spy. In this play, a husband and wife are arguing about whether or not to call back the neighbors because of the rain. Their son hears them arguing and they give him money to go out and buy something to keep himself busy. In the end their child comes home with chocolate. That is the cliff notes version of this story but it goes much deeper than that. Authority figures can create environments in which equals are given power over each other which in turn, instills a sense of fear and paranoia. That is what Brecht explains in his satirical play The Spy.
In the 1950’s through the 1960’s women were not respected in there everyday lives, in the job field or in general. They did not have the rights they deserved, so during this time the “women’s movement” began. Women fought for their rights and fought for the self-respect that they thought they deserved. In the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the character Mama, expresses her feelings of pushing or extracting a new side for a woman. Her role explains that woman can be independent and can live for themselves. Through her behavior in this play she demonstrates that women can support and guide a family. Mama is in charge of the family, which is unusual, since men are traditionally the “head of a family”. Through Mama’s wisdom and dialect she expresses and portrays an image of pro-feminism. Mama’s experience in the play A Raisin in the Sun illustrates the expressions, the emotions, and the feeling with which Mama and women had to cope. She was able to characterize this through her passionate dreams, her control and her strong willed attitude.
Michael Almereyda’s movie adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet brings about a new perspective through its performance. The movie adaptation, Hamlet (2000), retells the original play in a modernized setting, bringing out various different elements of characters, which highlights a new reading of these characters as individuals, and a newfangled reading of the play as well. Throughout the movie, Ophelia and Gertrude, the woman-leads, are advanced in a progressive manner compared to the original play. In particular, Gertrude from Hamlet (2000) is noticeably altered from Hamlet, the play. This new interpretation of Gertrude and the play created by the movie adaptation advances the position of Gertrude as a woman, as well as motifs of incest, misogyny,
Everyone has a different perception of life. Perhaps the norm says we always choose life; social mores and traditions in western culture suggest that there really are no choices in this regard. We all have our obstacles that we face during the time we spend on this earth and are also faced with live changing decisions. In ‘night, Mother, it’s indicated Jessie Cates had struggled throughout her life with depression, seizures, memory loss, abandonment, a forced marriage and a controlling mother. She knew no other world, enslaved to these conditions of her existence and base of familiarity. Her concept of time was blurred.
It’s always important to be touched. Writers know and understand this idea. Whether the audience feels good or bad about whom or what you present is not as important as the fact that they feel something. Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children is a perfect example of a work that doesn’t leave us in very high spirits but touches us in such a way that it becomes even more powerful than if it had.