Alienation in Mother Courage And Her Children Essay

The world cannot be changed. Mother Courages philosophy tells us that we should not fight the fact that the world cannot be changed but instead accept that there is nothing that can be done about it. We can only hope to achieve as much as we can with what we have. In doing so, we find some victories in smaller ways.

The alienation effect (German:Verfremdungseffekt) is a theatrical and cinematic concept that is prevalent in the play. It is focuses on the idea of making familiar strange and thus making it poetic. By making use of devices to produce an alienation or distancing from the spectacle, the audience becomes a critical observer. It aims to take the emotion out of the scene and to distance the audience from the make believe characters. It makes it easier for the audience to reflect on the issues presented before them.

An example of the alienation effect can be found in the first part of Scene Three, namely, the discussion between Mother Courage, the Cook, and the Chaplain of the politics of the Thirty Years War. Set three years later, Mother Courage is bargaining with an officer over a bag of bullets. He reprimands him for selling the bullets when they need it more. She buys them for a guilder and a half while preparing to send off his son, the paymaster, Swiss Cheese. She gives him his underwear and tells him to balance the regiment books. He leaves with the officer. Yvette, the camp whore, is distressed that no man would touch her because of rumors that she is ill. She recounts an affair with a Dutch army cook. After Yvette goes behind the wagon, Mother Courage is visited by the Chaplain, together with the Cook, with a message from Eilif. The three walk behind the cart where they discuss politics. Simultaneously, Kattrin is singing while putting on Yvettes hat and boots.

Another example of this effect comes from Scene Twelve when we see Mother Courage singing a lullaby to her daughter Kattrins corpse thinking she is just sleeping. After the peasants bring her to back to her senses, they offer to bury the body. She pays for the funeral, ironically, without any complaints. The marching troops can be heard from a distance. She harnesses herself to the wagon and joins the passing regiment. The wagon is much lighter now that she is alone and has less merchandise.

In the first example, the alienation used is in the form of a spatial device. By going behind the cart, the audience is alienated from the characters and is able to reflect on the issue present-at-hand. They are able to distinguish fiction from reality. As for the philosophy that the world cannot be changed, Mother Courage is convinced that war is about profit. The fact that it applies to her, the king and those working for the king only strengthens her beliefs. The Cook can be seen as a critical voice. He is aware of his social position and the conflict that arises from working for the king. Money, together with corruptible men, is enough to get by. They accept that this is inherent in society and try to live off it, too.

Meanwhile, in Scene Twelve, the alienation employed is that of the uncertainty and irony of Mother Courages actions. The audience is familiar to seeing a mother singing a lullaby to her child but to see Mother Courage sing a lullaby to her dead, disfigured, mute daughters corpse is strange on so many levels. The effect of making familiar strange is captured in this moment. Moreover, the audience is not used to the emotion or lack thereof that Mother Courage is shows when she pays for Kattrins funeral. Her actions were totally out of character. It is not unusual for a parent to spend money for their child but it has been clearly established that Mother Courage would not give up her money straightforwardly, under any circumstance. She would need to think it through first. We know this from Scene Three when Eilif, through the Chaplain, asked for money from his Mother and again from the same scene when Swiss Cheese was caught and she had to bribe the man with the bandage for her sons freedom. At first she was willing to pawn her cart because of the assurance that she would be able to buy it back with the money from the cash box, but after learning that Swiss Cheese had lost the money, she wasnt sure. Though she eventually decided to go through with the bribe, she was too late and her indecision had cost her a son. This is why it was so surprising to see her casual when dealing with Kattrins funeral. Maybe it was the guilt or motherly love acting on behalf of her. The audience is called to question the role of Mother Courage and the presentation unfolding right before their eyes, which is exactly what the play seeks to do. Furthermore, this scene solidifies Mother Courages philosophy.

Finally, it goes to show that the world indeed cannot change. After everything that happened to Mother Courage, after she lost her three children, after everyone has come and gone, she is still a travelling saleswoman in the middle of a war. The play started with her travelling with her children travelling in their wagon and ends with her pulling the wagon herself. The gravity of the events that transpired was not enough to make an impact on the war. The world cannot be changed.