Mother Courage Critical Analysis

Bertolt Brecht’s epic play Mother Courage and her Children has a didactic aesthetic that is achieved through withholding of catharsis. Whilst Mother Courage could be classed as a tragedy due to the suffering and loss of its characters, Brecht’s focus on society and his use of techniques common in ‘epic theatre’ (such as music) result in the play being epic rather than tragic (Curran 2001, 172). The focus on society in Mother Courage is seen through Brecht’s exploration of the theme of war, which is a mimetic response to the socio-political context of the time. Marxist influence is also apparent in Brecht’s belief that art and society are mutually exclusive and through the continual criticism of capitalism and Aristotelian aesthetics. Furthermore,

The use of setting presents Brecht’s critique of capitalism, which was inspired by his Marxist studies. Marxist ideals were “inherent in [Brecht’s] concept of theatre,” (Wright 1989, 24), which is seen through the theme of war and consequent critique of capitalism. The war provides a cultural climate for the character of Mother Courage as Brecht shows Mother Courage to experience a great loss due to her “economic dependence on the war” (Curran 2001, 172). Her loss is the deaths of her three children: Swiss Cheese, Katrin and Eilif. At the beginning of the text Mother Courage is scathing of the war, “[l]et your men drink before they die!” (Brecht, 4) and she does not want her children involved, “[a] soldier’s life is not for sons of mine” (Brecht, 7). However by the end of the text she is financially dependent on the war and dreads it ending, “I have nothing but losses from your victory!” (Brecht 46). Brecht states that Mother Courage is “unable to protect her children against fate” (Brecht 1995, 323). The notion of Mother Courage’s suffering as fate differs to that of Aristotle’s. Whereby Aristotle stated that the tragic hero was a victim of fate as a result of

Mother Courage’s economic dependence on the war is the cause of her pathos, and is a result of her socio-political context rather than individual hamartia. Catharsis is withheld because there is no purgation. This is further developed through lack of anagnoresis. Neither Mother Courage nor the society she lives in has a recognition of their errors therefore the audience is unable to feel cleansed. Instead of artificially purging and cleansing the cause for suffering through catharsis, Brecht desires for his audience to leave the theatre wanting to purge and cleanse society themselves. This socio-political action outside of the theatrical world is the key idea behind Brecht’s didactic aesthetic. This is supported by use of the alienation effect, which ‘alienates’ the audience and actors from the play as means for critical thought. The spectator’s are able to objectively view the critiques of society and politics within Mother Courage without cathartic engagement. Brecht withheld catharsis throughout the text in a multitude of ways as means to achieve his didactic aesthetic, which yearned for socio-political change in a world that places more value on profit than human