Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and her Children are occur societies or contexts that confuse and complicate the lives of most people. The protagonists of Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House and Bertolt Brecht's Mom Courage and her Children struggle contrary to the constraints of their respective surroundings and both adopt fierce independence at the end of the respected has. However, Nora achieves this consequently of personal choice while Mom Courage's independence and loneliness is enforced upon her because of the circumstances which surround her. In this article I am going to explore the reasons for the best loneliness that your protagonists embrace.
Mother Courage and her Children shows a contemporary society crumbling because of the poignant crisis between Catholics and Protestants, while A Doll's House is set in a modern culture which shows the principles of an Victorian society where custom and stereotypes define gender assignments to a crippling degree. These societies place needless pressure on all young families, leaving only those who can bear to endure. The pressure exerted by the constraints of Victorian society is too much for Nora to take care of and she eventually walks from her family. Alternatively for Mom Courage to master motherhood as well as success skills during the Thirty Years Conflict is practically an impossible feat. Brecht cleverly illustrates how the conflict moulds Courage into a profound unsympathetic figure who by the end of the play manages to lose everything but learns nothing.
Mother Courage and her Children is set in the year 1624, in the midst of a collapsed population. Mom Courage has three children known as Eilif Nojocki (the child of your light-fingered soldier), Swiss Cheese (a Swiss fortifications engineer's kid) and Kattrin Haupt (half-German). Courage lives off war by selling deceased soldiers' property like boots, helmets, etc. Courage's deficits being in the beginning landscape of the play where a sergeant distracts Courage by haggling over a belt buckle while a recruiting officer leads Eilif off in to the war domains. The issue between motherhood and business is immediately brought into emphasis by the belt. For the first time we can easily see her problem between her pursuits as a businesswoman and her pursuits as a mom.
After Eilif is succumbed to war, Swiss Cheese shows up in the attire of your paymaster with a regimental cashbox. While Courage is off picture, Cheese is dragged away by a spy. Later in the landscape Courage good buys for Cheese's life with hesitation of bribing the soldiers and during this shilly-shallying Cheese is executed. Courage here does not realize that she'll never have the ability to save Cheese as well as keep her cart. Here's an opportunity cost situation and another step towards her loneliness due to the circumstances of the battle. Brecht attempts to bring home the hollowness in Courage's maternal skills but he also shows that the circumstances leave Courage with out a preference.
As the play approaches the climax and Courage has lost both her sons, we can discover that Courage's loss of Kattrin also comes with out a choice. Kattrin despite being warned commences to overcome a drum on the peasant's roofing top to alert the townsfolk about the soldier invasion. (Landscape 11, Webpage 106)6. Kattrin is threatened by the peasant as well as the military and is slowly but surely shot to loss of life but her sacrifice will save you the lives of several townsfolk. Kattrin's death represents the psychological climax of the play; it's the death of Courage's last child. Throughout the play we notice that Courage lives off war but by the end of the play she's to pay of the debts of the war with her own blood. Studying the increased loss of her children it is visible that Courage could not master the fine art of motherhood and she assumed that money was the only path to improve her children. She strived to do this goal which can be seen by her continuing her business in the last arena even after sacrificing all her children. Additionally it is interesting to notice that her loneliness was due to the circumstances of the conflict which always put her in an opportunity cost situation which lead to the increased loss of her children. Even though war needs sacrifices, Courage does show some part of coldness on her part as she won't give Kattrin an effective burial herself instead she says, "I have to return back to business"(Scene 12, Webpage 111)6. The aloneness of Courage is the consequence of the insatiable appetite of the battle giving Courage in situations where the cost of success was the loss of life of her children and a step towards solitude.
If exterior circumstances deprive Mom Courage of her children and leave her in heroic isolation, Nora of Doll's House abandons her children of her own free will in her own quest to overcome the circumstances that confine her. A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen starts on a Christmas Eve and from the very first lines of the play, we spot the status quo as stereotypically dictated by the Victorian Modern culture between a husband and a better half - Torvald Helmer and Nora. Helmer is the typecast strong and dignified man while Nora is "little skylark twittering, "(brand 148) 5 these choice of Helmer's words depict how Helmer cared for her just like a child. Helmer's continual reference to Nora using foolish labels for example "little featherbrain"(collection 83) 5, his "squirrel sulking"(brand 48)5 and most significantly his "songs bird"(lines 7)5 portray the status disparity between men and women and show that girls are simply status symbols according to the Victorian society ideas. The first stage of Nora's independence and loneliness starts in the beginning landscape of the play where Nora rather than sharing her love for the macaroons, hides it from Helmer (line 13) 5 and subsequently Helmer as a dominant husband questions and suspects Nora (lines 106-124) 5.
The second step towards freedom is signified in beginning dialog between Linde and Nora where Nora shows her durability in the mere undeniable fact that she acquired forged her father's signature and kept her husband's life. Although this occurred before the play started out, in disclosing her secret to Mrs. Linde she tries to gain independence but her efforts towards seeking self-reliance are defeated by the key points of the Victorian culture where it is below a man's dignity to seek aid from his wife. Nora instructs Mrs. Linde "Sh! Torvald must never hear" (lines 342-345)5 as she identifies that Helmer would not appreciate her work. Her next leap towards breaking-free is shown when Krogstad comes to visit her and attempts to manipulate her but Nora in response quotations, "A little princess can't save her dying father from care and attention and get worried? A wife can't help her sick and tired spouse?" (lines 810-813).
It is not until Nora views the reality of Helmer's character that she finally breaks free. Nora's long expected "magic" never took place as Helmer shows an extremely selfish side of his personality when he discovers that Nora got preserved his life. Helmer stoically says, "No man would sacrifice his honor for the one he loves" (range 636-637). This is actually the culmination point of the play where Nora realizes that just how the Victorian society wants it to be - Helmer's sociable image is of a greater importance to him when compared with his love and commitment to his wife. This disappointment bolsters Nora to stop her children and walk out on her man to go after a life of her choice where she is alone yet indie. Nora walks out on her family and her motherhood responsibilities to discover herself. Unlike Mother Courage, Ibsen shows a much more difficult situation for Nora as she is keen on her children and she has a selection but due to the reactions of Helmer as a stereotype Victorian world husband she has to give up her children, which is psychologically tragic for her. Nora mainly leaves to find her own self-reliance but she also is convinced that her children's upbringing would be better done by Anne-Marie (their nanny).
The culminations of the two takes on symbolize the loneliness of the protagonists, their ultimate destiny is similar but their frame of mind towards completing their destiny differs. Nora's independence and seclusion is the consequence of the choice she makes while Mom Courage is devoid of a decision. Nora, sick and tired of the male dominating society decides to break free and voluntarily decides to be unbiased for her personal growth. While Mother Courage also makes similar sacrifices but the warfare society depicted by Brecht leaves her handicapped. To conclude Nora acquired the desire to be independent but for Mother Courage loneliness and self-reliance were just like a price that she unwilling must pay for the business enterprise she did from the war.
