Essay: Mother Courage: Aspirations

Mother Courage: Chapter 3: Aspirations...


At the beginning of the play Mother Courage is seen as a wise woman who wants to protect her children, but also have financial wealth. Mother Courage is seen as this supporting character through the motif of the wagon which carries all her families belongings. In scene three a change is seen in the characterization as Mother Courage denies knowing her son Swiss Cheese to save herself. This shows that Mother Courage is not able to achieve all her aspirations in life. Although she makes the decision to deny knowing her son, Mother Courage comes across to the audience as feeling guilty as "Mother Courage shakes her head". This speechlessness compares Mother Courage to Kattrin, who is helpless in saving her brothers, due to not speaking. This action explains that Mother Courage has to give up her motherly duties to help herself.

The only daughter of Mother Courage, Kattrin also changes throughout the first three scenes of the play. Firstly when Kattrin is mentioned on-stage she is spoken as Mother Courages "dumb daughter" who does not speak. This implies to the audience that she is not able to stand up for herself or express herself. In chapter three Kattrin meets Yvette the prostitute in one of the war camps. Kattrin is seen as trying on Yvettes "Red high-heeled boots" which imply that she wants to have an identity. Also, Kattrin is trying to express her sexuality and become something other than Mother Courages "dumb daughter".

First Thoughts: Friend, by Hone Tuwhare

Friend,
Do you remember
that wild stretch of land
with the lone tree guarding the point
from the sharp-tongued sea?

The boat we built out of branches
wrenched from the tree, is dead wood now.
The air that was thick with the whir of
toetoe spears succumbs at last to the
grey gull’s wheel.

Oyster-studded roots
of the mangrove yield none finer feast
of silver-bellied eels, and sea-snails
cooked in a rusty can.

Allow me
To mend the broken ends
of shared days:
but I wanted to say
that the tree we climbed
that gave food and drink
to youthful dreams, is no more.
Pursed to the lips her fine-edged
leaves made whistle—now stamp
no silken tracery on the cracked
clay floor.

Friend,
in this drear
dreamless time I clasp
your hand if only for reassurance
that all our jewelled fantasies were
real and wore splendid rags.

Perhaps the tree
will strike fresh roots again:
give soothing shade to a hurt and
troubled world.




- The first stanza is composed of one interrogative which connects the reader personally with the poem and the persona
- No rhyme scheme

Stanza 1
- Personification of 'sharp-tongued sea'
- Personification of the 'lone tree guarding the point'
- This use of personification illustrates the importance of nature in the personas memories with his friend
- Extended metaphor of the tree and its roots

Stanza 2:
- 3rd person pronoun 'we' gives the reader a connection with the persona
- The tone of the stanza has changed and contains more negative connotationbs such as 'dead wood' an 'thick' air


Stanza 5:
- The persona reflects that in bad times he reflects on his friendship which allows him to return to happy memories

Stanza 6:
- The persona comes to the conclusion that they hope to restore the friendship they reflect on in the first stanza
- The persona concludes that friendship is a very important part of life which gives people hope