Mother Courage And Her Children Analysis

The intention of my contemporary production of Bertolt Brecht’s play Mother Courage and Her Children (1939) is to highlight the concept of human virtues, and how these can often lead to a fatal downfall in a societal and personal manner. Within Mother Courage it is evident that many characters, in one way or another, suffer this downfall, although there are those with experiences greater than the rest. Through my intention, in the decomposition of theatrical illusion, I aim to guide the audience into an alienating state of self-reflection and ultimately, self-judgement, whereas they reflect upon and judge their own fatal virtue/s, in possibility, and consider the ways in which they can prevent their downfall, if it is yet to happen.

In his

She can’t be a mother, because she is a business woman.” - Bertolt Brecht
Mother Courage has an increasingly difficult time distinguishing the difference between her maternal and professional roles, and although, in many cases Courage says she is working only to support her children, it is due to her own neglectful attitude in completing self focused goals that ultimately leads to the death of her children.
Virtue in wartime - The fundamental image of the play, in terms of my production. War is what makes virtues fatal to those who possess them and, according to Brecht the qualities that save you in a time of war are those of cowardice, dishonesty, stupidity and cruelty. When Mother Courage tells the fortunes of her children in scene one, the audience is drawn to realise that these characters, along with Mother Courage herself will all die as a result of their virtues (kindness, bravery, honesty, and wisdom). Kattrin’s fatal virtue of kindness is exemplified at the end of the play when she dies whilst trying to warn the town of an invasion, by beating a drum. The fatality of Eilif’s virtue, bravery, is shown in scene eight, where he is sent for execution, following one of his many raids and finally, Mother Courage’s virtuous quality of wisdom, brings about her downfall when her children die and it is revealed, that through her will of survival, she has been damaged by the war, but has not learnt from

In my costume design, I chose to portray my intention through the characters of Eilif, Kattrin and Mother Courage. Eilif is the war-like son, with the virtue of bravery, itching to join the war and go about his brutal business of cunning, murderous raids, performed on the local peasants, motivated by the need to “feed his men”. His rise to power and willingness to battle are portrayed in the hat and pants of his costume. Kattrin, with the virtue of kindness, (as shown using the red flowers of her costume) is notably the character who mostly suffers from the effects of the war, in obvious aspects of physical traumas such as being dumb, and being left disfigured. Mother Courage tells Kattrin that she is in danger of becoming a victim of sexual abuse, therefore meaning she must “lay low”, demonstrating the need for modesty and self-protection, as portrayed in the black belt, and long skirt of her costume design. The third, and likely most important character I chose to display through costume is the namesake of the play, Mother Courage. Described as a parasite of the war, Courage works tirelessly, fixed on the idea of her own survival. Her virtue of wisdom (symbolised by the perched owl embroidery on her