Let's get real: Brecht doesn't exactly have glowing things to say about the human being's innate sense of right and wrong. On that topic, Brecht writes, "First comes eating and then comes morality." His point? Well, for Brecht, people care a whole lot more about their basic, everyday needs than they do about things like morality. Try taking away someone's creature comforts, and you might just end up with a whole new person. That idea is definitely reflected in Mother Courage. The characters in this play all strike us as pretty cynical about values, virtues, and principles; it seems they're just trying to make it through the war in one piece. Now, Brecht isn't saying moral principles are unimportant, or that they don't exist. But in Mother Courage, acting on principles might just get you killed.
(For the Brecht quote, see the introduction to the Penguin Classics edition, xi).
Questions About Principles
- Does Kattrin sacrifice herself for a principle, or does she just have nothing left to live for?
- Is Mother Courage as allergic to virtue as she seems, or has she lost faith in principles?
- Does Mother Courage deserve her name, or not?
- How might we perceive Mother Courage differently if she ran a first aid operation, in addition to her canteen business?
Chew on This
Though Brecht's Mother Courage appears critical of the idea that a sense of morality is innate to human beings, it still glorifies self-sacrifice in the figure of Kattrin.
Brecht's Mother Courage exemplifies his motto, "First comes eating and then comes morality." For most of the people in this play, acting on principle proves to be less important than acting for survival.