Alienation in Brecht's "Mother Courage"
Alienation in Brecht 's "Mother Courage"
In Bertolt Brecht 's "Mother Courage", alienation becomes the primary mover behind the characters that illustrate injustice in a capitalist world. While the plot revolves around war and its effects particularly on human beings, the concept of alienation continues to be evident in every aspect of the play. War is alienation. The effects of war, in whatever perspective one looks at, produce devastating results- destruction of man, nature, and morality. Unfortunately, the value for materialism overshadows morality specifically in the form of using war as avenues and opportunities for business. If one agrees to focus on the etymology of alienation, (from the Latin alienatus, which means, "transfer of ownership"), it is a term that may apply to any aspect of transfer- the 'moving of something ' from one place to another that belongs to the one who has the absolute and sovereign right to it- from values to objects, etc. The term "transfer" suggests motion and displacement- a moving from place to place. Yet this alienation ultimately brings into effect, estrangement (from the Latin estantia, meaning, "standing apart", "separate", "distant"). In this paper, alienation and estrangement are brought into common ground using Karl Marx 's Four Dimensions of Alienation that will be illustrated through Brecht 's "Mother Courage". Karl Marx presents alienation through four dimensions that are significantly related to all aspects of the human being. First, man 's alienation from his 'productive activity ' (of the product or object); second, alienation from his or her relationship with the product itself; third, alienation from his fellow men; and fourth, alienation from other species. [1] The writing of "Mother Courage" (Mutter Courage in German), a play written by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht in 1939 came at a time when World War II had broken out after the Nazis invaded Poland. Although Brecht had been
In Bertolt Brecht 's "Mother Courage", alienation becomes the primary mover behind the characters that illustrate injustice in a capitalist world. While the plot revolves around war and its effects particularly on human beings, the concept of alienation continues to be evident in every aspect of the play. War is alienation. The effects of war, in whatever perspective one looks at, produce devastating results- destruction of man, nature, and morality. Unfortunately, the value for materialism overshadows morality specifically in the form of using war as avenues and opportunities for business. If one agrees to focus on the etymology of alienation, (from the Latin alienatus, which means, "transfer of ownership"), it is a term that may apply to any aspect of transfer- the 'moving of something ' from one place to another that belongs to the one who has the absolute and sovereign right to it- from values to objects, etc. The term "transfer" suggests motion and displacement- a moving from place to place. Yet this alienation ultimately brings into effect, estrangement (from the Latin estantia, meaning, "standing apart", "separate", "distant"). In this paper, alienation and estrangement are brought into common ground using Karl Marx 's Four Dimensions of Alienation that will be illustrated through Brecht 's "Mother Courage". Karl Marx presents alienation through four dimensions that are significantly related to all aspects of the human being. First, man 's alienation from his 'productive activity ' (of the product or object); second, alienation from his or her relationship with the product itself; third, alienation from his fellow men; and fourth, alienation from other species. [1] The writing of "Mother Courage" (Mutter Courage in German), a play written by the German playwright Bertolt Brecht in 1939 came at a time when World War II had broken out after the Nazis invaded Poland. Although Brecht had been
References: "Marx 's Theory of Alienation." Yale Courses Online. 11 May 2013. Online Lecture. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIlEkbU4rx0 Walter, John (Dir.) "Theater of War". White Buffalo Entertainment. 2008. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eiy6hTPN9js ----------------------- [1] For further information, read Bertell Ollman 's "Alienation: Marx Conception of Man in Capitalist Society" [2] Scene 3, 19. [3] See "Song of Fraternisation", 20-21.