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Is Mother Courage Really Couragous

Daniel, Michal. Meryl Streep (Photo: Michal Daniel). Digital image.CurtainUp. N.p., 19 Aug. 06. Web. 26 Oct. 2015. <http://www.curtainup.com/mothercouragecentralpark.html>.
The Humanities Core Writer's Handbook , "Analyzing Drama" brought up an interesting exercise (exercise one) that I took inspiration from for my blog post today (64). This week in Humanities Core we were assigned to read the play Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht. Mother Courage ,otherwise known as Anna Fierling, is a mother of three just trying to sell her goods from a wagon while the Thirty Years War is occurring. Mother Courage prides her self on her cunning bargaining skills and her need for financial stability.  In Act 1 the Sergeant asks " ... Why's she called 'Courage'?"(1.8). His comment asks us to think why she is called "Courage" throughout the whole play and question "Is Mother Courage really courageous?"

 First we must identify what makes someone courageous and if we see these qualities in Mother Courage or does she fail to even express these qualities? Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Winston Church Hill and Rosa Parks are just a few people that we view as courageous. They all have one thing in common; these people are not selfish. Their cause for courage is out of the goodness of their hearts and to help the people. But does Mother Courage do the same? Is she selfless or selfish?

 Although Mother Courage wears the name of bravery she seems to be doing the opposite in Act 3 of the play. In the act when her son is taken captive for ransom, she even bargains the money for his release (3.43-50). Mother Courage does not seem to be a brave person in this case, she seems to be more hesitant and more selfish. She is a coward, at a time of need her first instinct is to bargain with the criminals. Although some may argue that Mother Courage was trying to protect her self and the rest of her family from financial ruin; most parents in this situation no matter how much the money would give everything they had without any hesitation. As Professor Smith noted, this also shows how Brecht tries to disconnect the reader from the characters emotionally.1 Brecht depicts Mother Courage as a heartless human being. Any parent who loves there child would give up an arm and a leg to keep their child safe. Mother Courage is a selfish human being that only cares about her financial stability. As Thomas Hobbes idea of humanity states that "human beings are, at their core, selfish creatures". People who share Hobbes' views would argue that Mother Courage is not brave but that she is selfish and only wants to protect herself.
_____________________________________________________________________________1. This idea was discussed during lecture with Professor Smith.

 Work Cited:
Castillo, Larisa. Humanities Core Writer's Hand Book. United States: Pearson. 2014. Print

Hello I am Abby C. I currently attend University Of California, Irvine and taking the Humanities Core series.This blog is a place where I can express my knowledge and opinions on the topics and books covered in this class. I am excited to share with you my views on these topics discussed in Humanities Core and I hope that you enjoy reading them!

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2 comments

  1. Allan AhorroOctober 28, 2015 at 4:52 PM

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  2. Allan AhorroOctober 28, 2015 at 4:53 PM

    I enjoyed your blog topic. It is a very ambiguous question that can bring about many perspectives. I like how you referred to major names and used them as examples to represent courage. I agree with you that Mother Courage can be selfish at times and also she can put work before her family. However, I don't think she is not a selfish person. On certain occasions, Mother Courage puts her family before anything else such as denying to go with the cook in order to be with Kattrin or trying to get Swiss Cheese back. Also there is an instance in the beginning of the play where she tries to stop her sons from getting recruited to join the army.

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