|
Have questions?
Contact us
Already a member? Sign in
|
Get every literary device explanation for Mother Courage and Her Children
Plus so much more...
Sign up for LitCharts A+
Get instant access to every literary device explanation, plus so much more...
Motif
Explanation and Analysis:
There are many songs scattered throughout the play. The usage of songs seems to be a light and whimsical choice in a play about death and war. These songs use rhyme and playful rhythms, but they still tackle dark issues related to the rest of the play. Like in a musical, the act of the characters bursting into song is unrealistic, but unlike in a musical, the play provides no escapism. The moments of music are just bizarre, not uplifting.
In Scene 1, Mother Courage sets the tone of the play by singing a song about the role commerce plays in terms of fueling the war effort:
Your men will walk till they are dead, sir,
But cannot fight unless they eat.
The blood they spill for you is red, sir,
What fires that blood is my red meat.
Mother Courage uses this song to introduce herself as an entrepreneur in the play. It directly lays out one of the main themes of the play: the reciprocal relationship between war and capitalism, without much room for misinterpretation. The implication is that the systems of bartering that allow men to die are equally responsible for the horrors of war as the generals are.
In Mother Courage, the song is not unusual, as most of these songs have some sort of moral or cautionary message. Mother Courage’s song shows the brutality of war, “The Fraternization Song” warns against being taken advantage of when in love, while “The Song of the Great Souls of this Earth” warns against being too virtuous.
It is worth noting that Brecht does not always condone the message of the song. Oftentimes, Brecht uses the characters as a way to express the opposite of the meaning of the play. For example, “The Song of the Great Souls of this Earth” argues that it is unwise to be virtuous because the virtuous are always killed. To the Cook, who sings this song, that is true, but to Brecht and the audience, the song functions as societal critique. The song points out that governments punish virtuous people, like Socrates or Caesar, with death for making things inconvenient for people in power.
Monthly
Annual (Best Value)
$595USD/mo
Charged $71.40 USD every year
Quote explanations & citation info
Every PDF download
Printable PDFs for every guide
"Would not have made it through without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
– LitCharts A⁺ user
One-page Quick Lit Guides
Understand key basics—fast
Printable, one-page guides that cover the plot points, themes, and ideas you need to know.
Detailed chapter analysis
Get what happens and what it means
Targeted analysis next to the summary ensures you’ll understand more than just the plot.
Line-by-line poetry analysis
Get the meaning in every line
Never feel lost reading a poem again with clear and in-depth analysis of each and every line.
Literary & poetic device analysis
Decode the author’s language
Quickly find and understand the key devices in whatever you’re reading.
Unlimited quizzes
Unlimited quizzes and feedback
Boost your learning with quizzes that pinpoint and address knowledge gaps.
Advanced search
Find exactly what you need
Refine your search using advanced filters like genre, time period, literary movement, author context, grade level, and more.
Ask LitCharts AI
Ask LitCharts AI
Instant answers to all your lit questions. Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
Theme comparisons across books
Compare and contrast
Identify similar themes across books, making comparisons fast and simple.
Highlight, take notes, & save guides
Make LitCharts your own
Add highlights or notes, save guides for easy access later, and request new titles.
Teacher$795USD/mo
Charged $95.40 USD every year
Quote explanations & citation info
Find the perfect quote
Then understand it perfectly. And get the citation, too. For all 35,000+ quotes we cover.
Every PDF download
Printable PDFs for every guide
"Would not have made it through without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
– LitCharts A⁺ user
One-page Quick Lit Guides
Understand key basics—fast
Printable, one-page guides that cover the plot points, themes, and ideas you need to know.
Detailed chapter analysis
Get what happens and what it means
Targeted analysis next to the summary ensures you’ll understand more than just the plot.
Line-by-line poetry analysis
Get the meaning in every line
Never feel lost reading a poem again with clear and in-depth analysis of each and every line.
Literary & poetic device analysis
Decode the author’s language
Quickly find and understand the key devices in whatever you’re reading.
Unlimited quizzes
Unlimited quizzes and feedback
Boost your learning with quizzes that pinpoint and address knowledge gaps.
Advanced search
Find exactly what you need
Refine your search using advanced filters like genre, time period, literary movement, author context, grade level, and more.
Ask LitCharts AI
Ask LitCharts AI
Instant answers to all your lit questions. Powered by LitCharts content and AI.
Theme comparisons across books
Compare and contrast
Identify similar themes across books, making comparisons fast and simple.
Highlight, take notes, & save guides
Make LitCharts your own
Add highlights or notes, save guides for easy access later, and request new titles.
Teacher editions
Save time with in-depth organizers
"THE best teaching resource I have ever used. My students love the handouts."
– LitCharts A⁺ User
Printable classroom resources
Cut prep time in half
Essay prompts, discussion questions, and comprehension checks—easy to print and ready to use in class.
Discussion question generator
Discussion question generator
Instantly create discussion questions that get people talking, through the power of LitCharts analysis and AI.
Essay prompt generator
Essay prompt generator
Quickly create thought-provoking essay prompts that will get your students writing, powered by LitCharts analysis and AI.
Quiz question generator
Quiz question generator
Effortlessly generate targeted quiz questions, powered by the world’s best literary analysis and AI.
Literature Guide PDFs
LitCharts PDFs for every book you'll read this year.
Instant PDF downloads of all 2262 LitCharts literature guides and of every new one we publish. Try a free sample literature guide.
"Would not have made it through AP Literature without the printable PDFs. They're like having in-class notes for every discussion!"
Quotes Explanations
Find the perfect quote. Understand it perfectly. Then rock the citation, too.
For all 50,459 quotes we cover.
For all 50,459 quotes we cover.
Teacher Editions
Close reading made easy for students.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Time saved for teachers.
For every book we cover.
Teacher Edition Contents
|
Close Reading Organizers |
|
Character Analysis Organizers |
|
Symbol Analysis Organizers |
|
Theme Analysis Organizers |
|
Quote Analysis Organizers |
Common Core-aligned
""
Try a free and complete sample Teacher Edition.
PDFs of modern translations of every one of Shakespeare's 37 plays, 154 sonnets, and 3 longer poems.
Every translation available to download as a PDF.
Try a free sample Shakespeare translation.
"Every teacher of literature should use these translations. They completely demystify Shakespeare. Students love them!"
Literary Terms and Devices
Definitions and examples for every literary term and device you need to know.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Plus a quick-reference PDF with concise definitions of all 136 terms in one place.
Try a free sample literary term PDF.
Advanced Search
Refine any search. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more.
Related Themes
Comparing and contrasting texts? Find where any theme occurs across all of LitCharts in seconds.
Poetry Guides
Line-by-line explanations and analysis of figurative language and poetic devices.
For every lyric poem we cover.
For every lyric poem we cover.
