Maria Braun Religion

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The movie, The Marriage of Maria Braun, clearly depicts several different aspects of post-war Germany. Specifically, Maria Braun’s character and her actions show the difference between how Germany appeared to other countries and their actual internal state, as well as displays the illusion of control Germany and its people suffered from after the war. Also, Maria Braun shows Germany and its people’s conflict between keeping tradition and embracing modernity as they rebuilt their country. By the second half of the film, Maria has successfully built a life for herself. She has fine clothing, such as fur coats, and she can afford to live in a nice house by herself, as well as afford expensive meals at fancy restaurants. However, her gradual decline in mental stability also becomes …show more content…

Maria clearly embraces the idea of the modern woman. She takes control of her own life, to an extent, and becomes strong and independent. However, she also maintained traditional views about her marriage and her husband. She had affairs, but never married another man, and always stayed faithful to her husband in her heart. All that she did to provide for herself, she claimed she did for her husband. Also, she had every intention of starting a life with Hermann once he was released from prison. Similarly, post-war Germany wrestled with sticking to tradition or embracing the new modern world. The Nazis had taken over Germany in every way possible. This included the beliefs and daily lives of the German people. However, after the war ended, the allied powers frantically did everything in their power to remove the Nazi party from the country. Therefore, the German people were pushed to move on and embrace democracy, but they still had a choice to make. They had to decide if they were willing to leave their old lives and beliefs behind, and embrace the new ideas that were being imposed upon

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