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Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children: Marxist Concept of Alienation


Affiliations
1 Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran, Islamic Republic of
 

This paper intends to argue that Mother Courage, the main character of Bertolt Brecht's play, Mother Courage and Her Children (1980), fails to support her children financially because of a socio-psychological state defined by Marx as "alienation". Mother Courage's attempt to maintain and secure financial profit leads to a tragic failure because her endeavor falls into the Marxist category of alienated labor. This reading intends to offer a study of the two major aspects of "alienation"- 'alienation and identity,' and 'alienation and political,'-in selected play.

Keywords

Sense of Loss, Alienation, Identity, Estrangement, Capitalism.
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  • Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children: Marxist Concept of Alienation

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Authors

Mahmoud Daram
Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran, Islamic Republic of
Abolfazl Ahmadinia
Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran, Islamic Republic of

Abstract


This paper intends to argue that Mother Courage, the main character of Bertolt Brecht's play, Mother Courage and Her Children (1980), fails to support her children financially because of a socio-psychological state defined by Marx as "alienation". Mother Courage's attempt to maintain and secure financial profit leads to a tragic failure because her endeavor falls into the Marxist category of alienated labor. This reading intends to offer a study of the two major aspects of "alienation"- 'alienation and identity,' and 'alienation and political,'-in selected play.

Keywords


Sense of Loss, Alienation, Identity, Estrangement, Capitalism.

References