Practice with the spirit - Mother Courage and her childrenTopic: analysis of war as a feat in the play Mother Courage and her childrenIn Brecht's play “Mother Courage and her children” he clarifies that he thinks that war is a “continuation of business by other means”. For him, war is not an unnatural event nor a mistake made by society, however it is one of the many preconditions of society and is an inevitable event. Since this is Brecht's opinion, there are several dialogues all describing that the war is simply another profit-making venture by some of Europe's many leaders. The play follows Mother Courage who, as suggested above, is a shop assistant and lives off the war and the profits she makes from it, and as stated in the play "big profits are not made by little people". Mother Courage's relentless commitment to the affairs of war not only costs her and her children, but takes back everything she has provided her in flesh and blood. The topic of this essay is war as a business, however this is not just the topic of this essay, it is evident in the play that this was its purpose. Since war as an enterprise is a cherished belief of Brecht's, the play displays many elements of this. It was not a drama, it was a "business game" and it becomes evident throughout his work that war is not only a profitable entity, but is also the "sum of everyone's business transactions", as stated in the work . Mother Courage, the character, is aware of this fact and feeds on it in a parasitic way. A great example of this is when the recruiting officer in the first scene tries to recruit his son and tries to charge him a fee of 5 guilders. This is a very inhumane purchase of her son, however she takes the sale of her son in stride and begins... middle of the paper... the Marxist has very effectively described his view of war as a business and it he did it in a way that fascinated many and caused them to reconsider their views on the war. It made the war seem profitable, but it also costs a lot to maintain this profit, for example human lives. In this play it is difficult to form an opinion on Mother Courage as she seems to have no honour, however there is an honor that must be given to her as she continues to march despite her losses, and this reflects her journey but also the journey of the war, as the play ends with her dragging her carriage away in tattered clothing, but also mentions how armies are just as tattered if not more so. The play is masterfully crafted to sell his ideas but also warn of the costs that accompany Brecht's views and in this respect Brecht succeeded on an immense level.