Use Of Song In Mother Courage And Her Children By Bertolt Brecht

Epic theatre, pioneered by Bertolt Brecht, was a popular theater form in the 20th century that utilized song (‘musical insertions’) as a prominent dramatic feature. Not only were songs used for the purpose of entertainment, but to present a theatrical experience unblemished by emotional judgment evoking critical and objective opinions and thoughts within the audience. Brecht’s use of song in Mother Courage and her Children highlights the character of the independent, tenacious and persevering protagonist, Mother Courage and draws attention towards the recurring idea of historicisation and capitulation in the lives of a common man in the historical context of war. Brecht’s simultaneous use of song as a commenting, alienating and dramatic device helps to successfully detach yet entertain his proletariat audience. This further provides a critical representation of reality and social ‘gestus’. This essay will focus on how four prominent songs in the play elucidate this: The opening song, ‘The Song of the Fishwife and the Soldier’, ‘The Song of the Great Capitulation’ and the final song.

In the play, the character of Mother Courage is depicted as both a hero and an anti-hero victimized by the capitulation of the thirty years war. In Mother’s Courage’s opening song (scene 1); she enthusiastically introduces her identity as a tradesperson, ‘here comes Mother Courage and her wagon’ (Bertolt, 4), where the image of the wagon symbolizes her capitalist nature and actions; further highlighted in the ‘Song of the Great Capitulation’ – ‘we hitch our wagon to a star’ (Bertolt, 44). The metaphoric link drawn between weaponry, food and survival in ‘but let’em swim before they sink!...sabres and swords are hard to swallow’ (Bertolt, 4), highligh...

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...iety of social issues with particular focus on human behavior and conditions in the context of the thirty-year war, evoking a rage to take action against such unjustified conflicts. Furthermore, Brecht’s portrayal of conditions and actions evoked by the wartime context are applicable in today’s world, for example, how capitalist and self-interes tdictated policies continue the never-ending Kashmir Conflict. Additionally, brecht’s use of song can be related to ‘Burrakatha’ – folk music performed in rural areas in Andhra Pradesh, India, by small groups of dramatists using solo drama, song and prayers to comment upon contemporary social issues in different villages. Overall, Brecht’s link of the war to the core of humankind – motherhood – emphasizes the power held within societies to mould our personalities and of reactions, not emotions, to mould our views.