Adaptation vs Authenticity: Exploring the Consequences of Changing and Unchanging Human Nature on Individuals and Family Ties in Mother Courage and Her Children

Abstract

Bertolt Brecht’s play Mother Courage and Her Children portrays the multiple-faceted dimensions of human nature through the characters of Mother Courage, Chaplain Eilif, Swiss Cheese, and Katherine. Through textual analysis of the play and by applying the lens of Albert Bandura’s Social Cognition Theory, the paper examines the alteration and steadfastness of human nature and their consequences. This play uses the setting of war as a destructive power that influences human nature as it is shaped by society, culture, and environment. Mother Courage and Chaplin are the characters who transform their nature according to the dynamic sociopolitical landscape. In contrast, Mother Courage’s children Eilif, Swiss Cheese, and Katerine are the authentic characters who died but did not bend to the situation. Standing firm on the values, beliefs, and one’s true self costs the highest prize, whereas compromising on the values and oneself saves life but shatters family ties and corrupts the individual's existence. The paper asserts that adaptation secures survival but has the possibility to contaminate moral values, while authenticity sustains integrity with an immense personal toll.