Marxist Madness

Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children is a shameless social criticism of the Capitalist system of economics and the tragic repercussions of war. German-born Brecht seemed to have felt alienated from both sides of the ominous Second World War that had begun brewing during the time period that this play was so hastily written. On the one hand, Brecht was clearly writing in response to the growing threat of the Nazis and of Italian fascism, attempting to warn the world of the bleak future that it was walking itself into. And yet, one could never accuse Brecht of being on the side of the Americans, as Mother Courage, with its decisive attacks on the Capitalist’s way of life, so clearly demonstrates. The titular character, Mother Courage, the driving force of the play, is symbolic of the greed that Brecht believes is at the heart of all Capitalism. Her three children represent the better human qualities (chivalry, honesty, and charity), while their tragic fates are metaphors for the negative effects of greed on the human heart, which in Brecht’s mind are inevitable in a Capitalist world. The chaplain is possibly my favorite character, as he is used by Brecht to demonstrate the hypocrisy of organized religion and wars fought in the name of “God”. Brecht’s style of theater is distinctive in its quick scene shifts, its thematic employment of small-scale musical numbers, and its rather one-dimensional characters, most of which are not so much good nor bad, but the literal personification of whatever it is that Brecht wants that specific character to represent.