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Mother Courage and Her Children

Drama and Theatre

Mother Courage and Her Children (German: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht, with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin. The name is based on its eponymous character, Mother Courage. Four theatrical productions were produced in Switzerland and Germany from 1941 to 1952, the last three supervised or directed by Brecht. Several critics regard the play as the greatest of the twentieth century. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
Classification
Audience
General 1
Original Language
German 1
Composed, From (Year)
1939 to 1949 1
Composed, From (Year)
from 1949 1
FAQs

Why is Mother Courage and Her Children set in the Thirty Years' War when Brecht wrote it in 1939?

It is set in the Thirty Years' War because Brecht's principles for political drama kept it out of modern times.

Brecht wrote the play in 1939, in response to the German invasion of Poland, but followed his own principles for political drama by not setting it in modern times. Instead the action takes place during the Thirty Years' War of 1618 to 1648, which involved all the German states, France and Sweden. The canteen woman Anna Fierling, known as Mother Courage, tries to make her living from that war and loses all three of her children to it, and the play's theme is the devastating effects of a European war and the blindness of anyone hoping to profit by it.
Connections

Authored By

Source Mother Courage and Her Children (Wikipedia)

In Genre

Drama, Genres
Source Mother Courage and Her Children (Wikipedia)
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Original Language

Also in Language Atlas: the original language of this subject.

Originated In

Also in Geography Atlas: where this subject originated.

Source Mother Courage and Her Children (Wikipedia)tier 2
Sources
1. Mother Courage and Her Children (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation
  • Lead section
    Mother Courage and Her Children...is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin.
  • Lead
    is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht
  • Original language statement
    Mother Courage and Her Children (German: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin.
  • Lead paragraph
    Mother Courage and Her Children (German: Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder) is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), with significant contributions from Margarete Steffin. The name is based on its eponymous character, Mother Courage.
  • Authored By: Bertolt Brecht, Lead section, authorship
    Mother Courage and Her Children...is a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht.
  • In Genre: Drama, Lead section, genre
    a play written in 1939 by the German dramatist and poet Bertolt Brecht
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