Mother Courage and Her Children Theme of Wealth

Money makes the world go round. Or was that love? Anyway, wealth and its acquisition are definitely important themes in Mother Courage. The play's protagonist remains obsessed with making her living off the war, even as she loses her family to its brutality. She and her friends are certain that profit is driving their leaders to wage the war, rather than the principles they use to sell the war to taxpayers. But in their world, it seems no less true that the allure of wealth trumps any other kind of value. So, what gives?

1. How is the wealth Mother Courage seeks different from the wealth of the "big shots"?
2. How does wealth differ from power in Mother Courage, if at all?
3. Does Mother Courage really care that much about money, or does this safely mask her other aspirations?
4. Are we to think that Mother Courage deserves what she gets for caring so much about money?

Mother Courage presents a paradoxical world in which money is even more important than survival.

The most important difference in Mother Courage is that between the haves and the have-nots.