Art. What is art? In the Britannica Encyclopedia art is, “a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination.” Art has the ability to evoke emotional responses. As well as allowing the audience to interpret it in many ways. So can Mother Courage and her Children be considered an art? Although it may have a “single correct interpretation” that Bertolt Brecht wanted to convey, it didn’t inhibit the audience to interpret it in their own perspective. That’s the magic of art. Art can have many meanings and different reactions, which of course can be limited due to context.

Many will argue Mother Courage and her Children is just an Epic theater that was produced to serve a purpose, to create a “distancing effect” or to “alienate”. Indeed it was created to prevent viewer empathy and stimulate critical reflection. However if the viewer is not aware of the context, the author and the author’s beliefs; the viewer will develop their own interpretation. It’s not that they misunderstood the play, they just took a different approach. It also depends on the audience. The scene of Kattrin’s rape, many women in the 1949 audience related to this scene due to the mass sexual assaults by Soviet Soldiers in 1945. Although the scene wasn’t meant to cause empathy, it still managed to cause an intensely emotional reaction. Brecht cannot control the viewers’ reactions, but he can use a pedagogical and a didactic approach to expose his true intentions. He wanted to assert that individuals who act virtuously in this world of war as business, their acts will lead to negative consequences. This was his goal which many can acknowledge but it can’t prevent the audience to see it at a different angle.

 Furthermore, Mother Courage and her children is a dramatic play. Art allows us to visualize and use our imagination in forms of a painting, sculpture, or literature. A dramatic play can also be considered art, since it’s a moving artwork that embeds a visual component. The development of the play is significant. The way the play is carefully crafted by its creator to illuminate the central theme made it imaginative and creative. Brecht did an effective work displaying his thesis, as well as inevitably allowing his artwork open to interpretations.

 

Works Cited

“Epic theatre.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 15 Oct. 2013.

 

Walsh, Katherine. Analyzing Drama. Humanities Core Handbook. Pearson Learning Solutions. 2014.