1. Eilif
1.1. Fatal Flaw is his daring and bravery
1.1.1. DIes in scene 8
1.1.2. "You saw the daring Caesar next/You know what he became./They defied him in his life/But then they killed him just the same./And as they raised the fatal life/How loud he cried:'You too, my son!'/Now think about his case. Alas/ A useful lesson can be won./ It's daring that had brought him to that pass!/How happy is the man with none!"(2863)
1.1.2.1. From a song in the play
2. Animals are more important than humans
2.1. the young peasant:"Not the animals!" pg. 2866
2.2. people are often compared to animals, mother Courage and her children pull the wagon as if they are cattle
2.3. Eilif gets killed for stealing cows for his men to eat during peacetime
3. Kattrin
3.1. Fatal flaw was kindness
3.1.1. St. Martin couldn't bear to see/ His fellows in distress./He saw a poor man in the snow./'Take half my cloak!' He did and lo!/They both of them froze none the less./He thought his heavenly reward was won./ Now think about his case. Alas/ A useful lesson can be won./ Unselfishness had brought him to that pass./How happy is the man with none!"(2863-64)
3.2. Dies in scene 11
4. The chaplain
4.1. Not really pious
4.1.1. goes with Eilif at his death
4.1.1.1. has a crush on mother courage, but she doesn't like"steady men"
5. Pete the pipe
5.1. womanizer turned cook
5.1.1. His real name is Lamb
5.2. Yvette was a prostitute in the war because she spent her younger years chasing after him until she was too far from home to go back
5.3. Has a crush on Mother courage but he wants to move away from Kattrin and Mother Courage can't do it
5.4. present when Eilif gets praised by the general and when he gets killed, both for the same reason
6. Gun violence
6.1. All of Mother Courage's children die by gunshot while exhibiting their fatal flaw
7. Background Information
7.1. Written by Bertolt Brecht
7.1.1. German playwright, poet,theatre director
7.1.1.1. Marxist world view
7.1.1.1.1. How does capitalism effect workers and power structures?
7.1.1.1.2. At odds with Hitler's national socialism AKA Nazism
7.1.2. Brecht 's purpose
7.1.2.1. Didactive playwright
7.1.2.1.1. it was his moral and artistic duty to encourage audience to remedy social ills
7.1.3. Marxism
7.1.3.1. materialist, everything is material
7.1.3.1.1. word is either proletariat(those who sell their work) or bourgeoisie(those who buy and exploit the workers)
7.2. Setting
7.2.1. Brecht used different wars to allude to WWII without being assassinated for speaking out against certain world leaders (Hitler).
7.2.2. Thirty Years War- religious wars across Central and Northern Europe from 1618-1648
7.2.3. First Scene is during Polish-Swedish war, not the thirty years war
7.2.4. Journeyed though Sweden, Bavaria, Bohemia, Moravia, Saxony, Brandenburg, back to Sweden
7.2.4.1. Most of these places are real and still exist
7.2.4.1.1. moved around so much because Mother courage switched sides according to who was winning
7.2.5. Setting with interchangeable masters disguising themselves as religions
7.3. Themes
7.3.1. Capitalism in war
7.3.1.1. The cart which mother courage was selling from
7.3.1.2. 2840
7.3.1.3. One eye in scene 3
7.3.2. Social institutions
7.3.2.1. lower classes in war
7.3.3. Virtue in wartime
7.3.3.1. usually a bad thing in this text
7.3.4. Religion
7.3.4.1. not super pure as it is often depicted
7.3.5. Silence In wartime
7.3.6. Maternal Responsibility
7.4. Epic Theater
7.4.1. Developed by Brecht
7.4.2. Appeals to reason
7.4.2.1. focuses on plight of the working class
7.4.2.1.1. stories are told through collage of contrasting scenes. intentionally incongruous
7.5. V effect/alienation effect
7.5.1. rejects immersion
7.5.1.1. audience should be hyperaware that they are watching a play
7.5.1.1.1. wanted to estrange the audience and force them to draw conclusions about their society
7.5.1.1.2. audience should;d not identify with the actors
7.6. Gestus
7.6.1. physical embodiment of relationships between people and society
7.6.1.1. each one captures a set of interlocking attitudes
7.7. Super task for actors
7.7.1. they were aware of their political,historical, moral, social, and aesthetic concerns
7.8. Contradictions
7.8.1. conflict of opposites
7.8.1.1. characters were deeply flawed and contradictory
8. Mother Courage
8.1. Mother of Eilif, Kattrin and Swiss cheese
8.2. Fatal flaw was wisdom.
8.2.1. she knew too much and it did not help her children
8.2.2. only brought her pain
8.3. "You saw the wise King Solomon/ You know what came of him./To him all hidden things were plain./He cursed the hour that gave birth to him/And saw that everything was vain/How great and wise was Solomon!/Now think about his case. Alas A useful lesson can be won./It's wisdom that had brought him to that pass!/How happy is the man with none!"(2862-63)
8.3.1. part of a song which has historical relations to Mother Courage and her children
8.4. She was not that Courageous as her name suggests
8.4.1. she rather not get into trouble
8.4.2. most courageous thing she does is run her cart following the war around. she also switches sides a lot, but she is not a hero
9. Swiss Cheese
9.1. Dies in scene 4
9.2. fatal flaw is honesty
9.2.1. he is also smart but that is not quite what takes him out
9.2.2. "You've heard of honest Socrates/Who never told a lie./They weren't so grateful as you'd think/Instead they sentenced him to die./And handed him the poisoned drink./How honest was the people's noble son!/Now think about his case. Alas/A useful lesson can be won./His honesty had brought him to that pass./How happy is the man with none!
10. Yvette Pottier
10.1. starts as an army prostitute
10.1.1. Marries a higher ranking soldier and becomes a countess
10.1.1.1. was looking for a ranking officer to settle down with for a while
10.1.1.1.1. for example she was in a relationship with a colonel named Poldi for a little bit while she was trying to buy Mother Courage's wagon.
10.1.1.2. marries Poldi's elder brother
10.2. tries to warn Mother Courage against the cook AKA Pete the pipe
11. The man with the patch over his eye
11.1. was supposed to make a trade for Swiss cheese's life, however Mother Courage was trying to bargain with the Chaplains advice
11.1.1. they ran out of time and Swiss cheese was executed by firing squad
12. Money in war
12.1. everyone was very concerned with money
12.1.1. the chaplain and cook mostly wanted enough to eat
12.1.2. mother courage wanted as much money as she could procure
12.1.3. Soldiers were willing to take bribes
12.1.4. Eilif was killed for taking cattle, a form of income
12.1.5. Swiss cheese was killed because the army could not find the cashbox he was left with
12.1.6. Kattrin was killed because she was interfering with a war effort to take a city
12.1.6.1. a success would likely result in rearward money for some of the military
12.1.7. Yvette wanted to marry rich so that she could buy what she wanted and not worry about having enough money