Society and Conflict in Drama

Bertolt BrechtÆs (1991) Mother Courage and Her Children occurs during the Thirty YearÆs War. The operator of a canteen wagon, Mother Courage is the mother of three children, Eilif, Swiss Cheese and Kattrin. Needing to survive, Mother Courage will sacrifice the lives of her three children to the war, a symbol of how humanity is eroded by war and what those who survive it lose. The action occurs as Mother Courage follows the soldiers around from one battle to another, providing them with food, drink, clothing and other goods for profit. A soldier who tries to recruit Eilif for the war is shocked at Mother CourageÆs resistance, ôDo they h

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ey and gunpowder. UndershaftÆs daughter Barbara, involved with the Salvation Army, has joined with the Army to help correct the social ills she considers her father to be instrumental in creating. Unlike Mother Courage, Undershaft is not willing to sacrifice his children for profit and survival. He believes the individuals with the most money are the only ones in a position to influence society, not the poor. Undershaft decides he will give Barbara, after dispelling what he sees as her false illusions about society, the Undershaft inheritance of ômoney and gunpowder; freedom and power; command of life and command of deathö (Shaw 91). In contrast to the helpless but strong Mother Courage, Undershaft has a different view about society and war. Undershaft recognizes that wars are made by men very much like himself, and he also recognizes that a man who possesses money and power can do and be anything at all. For Mother Courage, it is merely a means of surviving in a society created by those like Undershaft. The influence of Undershaft extends beyond his own small family and to the larger society. Undershaft knows himself very well. He says, ôThink of my business! Think of the widows and orphans! The men and lads torn to p
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Approximate Word count = 1575
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)