Finals

• Mother Courage and Her Children


  Play written by German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht in direct response to Hitler's invasion of Poland in 1939
• Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) was nominated for the Nobel Prize and won the Kleist Prize, Lenin Peace Prize, and Stalin Peace Prize
• Epic theatre


  The form constantly reminds audiences that they are watching a play to distance them emotionally from the story
• The play is set in Europe during the Thirty Years' War
• The play was first produced in Switzerland


  1941
• Brecht himself directed the play in Berlin


  1949
• The play is considered by some as the greatest anti-war play of the 20th century
• The action of the play takes place over the course of 12 years (1624 to 1636)
• Verfremdungseffekt or "estrangement effect"


  Used to distance the audience from the play and is sometimes called the alienation effect
• Epic theatre


  • A style of theatre that aims to make audiences think critically about social and political issues
  • The goal is to engage the audience intellectually and prompt them to reflect on the world around them rather than just emotionally
• Techniques of epic theatre

  • Breaking the fourth wall - making the audience directly conscious of the fact that they are watching a play
  • Use of song, music, and dance - used to neutralise emotion, rather than intensify it
  • Narrative interruptions - scenes being stopped for commentary
  • Gestus - a clear gesture or other physical movements that the actors use to convey emotions, thoughts, or the attitude of the situation or the character
• Thirty Years' War

  • 1618 - 1648
  • Protestant VS Catholic
  • Ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 which led to Dutch Independence, reaffirming Peace in Augsburg, Calvinism as a legally permissible faith, and the Holy Roman Empire being weakened
• Sides in the Thirty Years' War

  • Protestant: England, Denmark, Sweden, Dutch Republic, and other German States (Saxony, Brandenburg, Hasse-Kassel, etc.)
  • Catholic: Holy Roman Empire, Spain, and Austria
  • Neutral: France (Entered the war later to counter Habsburg power. Despite being Catholic, France supported the Protestant against the Habsburgs)
• Main characters

  • Mother Courage (Anna Fierling) - protagonist; a canteen woman
  • Eilif - the eldest son; slaughters peasants and steals livestock
  • Swiss Cheese (Schweizerkas; Feyos) - the younger son; honest and loyal; paymaster
  • Kattrin (Catherine) - mute daughter
  • Recruiting Officer - recruits Eilif into the army with promises of beer and women
  • Sergeant - distracts Mother Courage with the possibility of a sale
  • Cook - bachelor; Chaplain's rival for Courage's affections
  • Commander - general of the Swedish regiment
  • Chaplain - religious leader for the army; coward and hypocrite
  • Yvette Pottier - prostitute; marries a rich colonel's brother
  • The Man with the Eye Patch, a Captain, and a Sergeant - three roles comprise a spy and two members of the army who arrest Swiss Cheese
• Scene ONE

  1. The play opens in Dalarna, 1624, with a Sergeant and Recruiting Officer trying to recruit soldiers for the Swedish campaign in Poland

  2. Mother Courage appears with her canteen wagon and children, singing her trademark sales pitch to the soldiers

  3. The Recruiting Officer tries to enlist Eilif, but Courage intervenes, drawing her knife to protect her children

  4. Courage predicts her children's fates using a fortune-telling game with strips of parchment, all drawing the black cross symbolizing death

  5. Despite her efforts, Eilif is convinced to join the army, and Kattrin screams in horror as he leaves with the officers

  6. Courage sadly accepts her loss and departs with her remaining children
• Scene TWO

  1. Mother Courage journeys through Poland with the Swedish army in 1625–1626

  2. Courage argues with the Cook over the sale of a capon

  3. Eilif enters, praised by the Commander for a raid on peasants where he cleverly secured meat

  4. The Chaplain cynically comments on the situation, noting the contrast between Jesus's teachings and the current circumstances of hunger and violence

  5. The Commander celebrates Eilif's bravery and plans to present him to the king, while Courage senses trouble brewing

  6. Eilif sings a song taught by Courage, "The Song of the Wise Woman and the Soldier"
• Scene THREE

  1. Part 1: Three years later, Mother Courage and Kattrin fold washing on a cannon while Courage bargains with an Ordinance Officer over bullets

  2. Swiss Cheese, now a paymaster, and Yvette Pottier, a camp prostitute, observe the scene

  3. Suddenly, cannons, shots, and drums signal a surprise attack by Catholics, and characters scramble to respond

  4. Part 2: Swiss Cheese anxiously worries about the cash box and the presence of spies

  5. Mother Courage pretends to be Catholic to protect the canteen and commands Swiss Cheese to leave the cash box where it is

  6. Two men apprehend Swiss Cheese, and Courage suggests he give up the cash box to save himself

  7. Courage realizes she won't be able to reclaim the wagon and sends Yvette to negotiate with One Eye, but he rejects their offer

  8. Swiss Cheese is executed, and his body is thrown into a pit
• Scene FOUR

  1. Mother Courage complains to a Clerk about the army destroying her merchandise and imposing fines

  2. A Young Soldier enters, angry because the captain allegedly stole his reward and squandered it

  3. Courage sings "The Song of the Great Capitulation" , about a proud man who ultimately submits to the army's discipline
• Scene FIVE

  1. Two years later, Mother Courage and Kattrin serve soldiers in a war-ravaged village

  2. Courage demands payment from the soldiers, who protest that their humane commander only allowed them one hour for plundering

  3. The Chaplain arrives, needing linen for a wounded woman and peasant, but Courage refuses

  4. Kattrin rushes into a collapsing building upon hearing a child's cry of pain, torn between her duty and her mother's orders
• Scene SIX

  1. The canteen sits before Bavarian city of Ingolstadt during Commander Tilly's funeral in 1632

  2. Courage reflects on Tilly's death, expressing pity for the Commander's unfulfilled plans due to the incompetence of underlings

  3. The Chaplain laughs at Courage's subtle criticism of the war, suggesting that heroes will always emerge to continue it

  4. Kattrin returns scarred from an attack en route, and Courage tries to console her, giving her Yvette's boots
• Scene SEVEN

  1. Mother Courage appears on a highway with the Chaplain and Kattrin, towing the wagon with new merchandise

  2. She sings "The Song of Mother Courage" again, reaffirming her resilience and dedication to her business despite the hardships of war
• Scene EIGHT

  1. An Old Woman and her son try to sell bedding to Courage, who is unwilling to buy

  2. Bells ring, announcing Gustavus Adolphus's fall at the battle of Lützen and the declaration of peace, much to Courage's dismay

  3. Eilif, now a lieutenant, enters in fetters and is arrested for plundering that resulted in a peasant's death

  4. Courage returns, breathless, revealing that the war has resumed, and they must flee with the wagon
• Scene NINE

  1. By the autumn of 1634, war has devastated half of Germany's population, leading to starvation and ruined towns

  2. Courage and the Cook, appearing in rags, seek food but find no answer

  3. Courage informs Kattrin of the Cook's plan to join him at the inn, but the Cook insists they leave her behind due to her disability

  4. Overhearing, Kattrin climbs out with a bundle, leaving behind a parting message with their clothes

  5. Courage emerges with soup but stops Kattrin from leaving, choosing to stay with her daughter instead
• Scene TEN

  1. In 1635, Courage and Kattrin follow worn-out armies through central Germany

  2. They come across a prosperous farmhouse on the highway, where a voice sings of its past prosperity
• Scene ELEVEN

  1. One night in January 1636, near a farmhouse outside Halle, a Catholic Lieutenant and three soldiers arrive from a guide to the town

  2. They seize the Old Peasant Woman, her son, and grandson, demanding a guide to the town

  3. Kattrin, Courage's daughter, appears on the wagon, revealing Courage has gone to buy supplies as shops are selling cheaply

  4. The Old Peasant spots a Catholic regiment approaching
• Courage emerges with soup but stops Kattrin from leaving, choosing to stay with her daughter instead.
• They toss the Cook's belongings and harness themselves to the wagon, departing as the Cook enters, realizing he's been abandoned.
• Courage and Kattrin follow worn-out armies through central Germany.

  1635
• They come across a prosperous farmhouse on the highway, where a voice sings of its past prosperity.
• Courage and Kattrin pause to listen before continuing their journey.
• Near a farmhouse outside Halle, a Catholic Lieutenant and three soldiers arrive from a guide to the town.


  One night in January 1636
• They seize the Old Peasant Woman, her son, and grandson, demanding a guide to the town.
• Kattrin, Courage's daughter, appears on the wagon, revealing Courage has gone to buy supplies as shops are selling cheaply.
• The soldiers threaten to destroy the peasants' cattle if they don't comply with guiding them.
• The Old Peasant spots a Catholic regiment preparing to attack the town and begins to pray for their family's safety.
• When she learns of the Peasant Woman's grandchildren in town, Kattrin climbs on the roof and starts beating a drum to warn the town.
• The soldiers threaten her, promising to spare her mother if she stops drumming and accompanies them.
• Kattrin continues drumming defiantly while the Old Peasant disguises her drumming as innocent peacetime noise by chopping wood.
• Enraged, the Lieutenant orders his men to silence Kattrin, and one of them shoots her as her final drumbeats mingle with cannon thunder.
• Kattrin's sacrifice saves the town from the surprise attack.