Mother Courage And Her Children How Brecht was influenced by Karl Marx

Origin Written in 1939 Response to the rise of fascism ‘’Mother Courage, with its theme of devastating effects of a European war and the blindness of anyone hoping to profit by it, is said to have been written in a month; judging by the almost complete absence of drafts or any other evidence of preliminary studies, it must have been an exceptionally direct piece of information.’’

Mother Courage Set in Sweden, during the thirty year war A mother who loses all of her children gradually to the war over time.

Karl Marx ‘ ’The only audience for my plays that I had come across’’ Brecht on Marx Believed goods are the root of the social world and that basic determining factors of human history is economics

Capitalism in the play Most Notable use of Marxism is the depiction of War as Capitalism Brecht and Marx shared similar views of war being a business.

‘’Hyena of The Battlefield’’

Religion in Mother Courage Opium of the masses Kattrins actions compared to futile prayers

To Conclude

References  content/uploads/2011/01/spotted-hyena-knp-8385.jpg content/uploads/2011/01/spotted-hyena-knp-8385.jpg  Manheim,R,Willett j,Introduction," Bertolt Brecht: Collected Plays, vol. 5. (Vintage Books, 1972) p. xi    el.gif el.gif  masses.jpg masses.jpg  germany.jpg (ALL CITED 5/01/2013) germany.jpg