does not deepen emotion It interrupts the action and forces the audience to think about trade and war Characters Full of Contradiction Brecht created characters with contradictions not heroes Mother Courage loves her children but also profits from war When Swiss Cheese becomes paymaster she says Don t forget they made you paymaster because you re honest But when he is caught she bargains too long and loses him This contradiction is Brecht s innovation He shows real human weakness not noble sacrifice The audience does not admire they judge Use of Irony and Tragic Loss Brecht uses irony to break the illusion Eilif is first praised for bravery when he kills peasants He sings proudly The soldier laughs and loads his gun But later in peace the same act makes him a criminal He is executed This irony is Brecht s tool The audience learns that war changes morality What is right in war becomes wrong in peace This sharp contrast is Brecht s innovation Silent Kattrin and the Shocking Ending In traditional drama speeches create emotion But in this play Kattrin is mute She cannot speak yet she gives the loudest message In the last scene of Mother Courage and Her Children the Catholic troops surround the town of Halle They plan to attack and destroy the Protestant Lutheran villagers inside Kattrin climbs a roof and beats a drum to warn villagers Catholic soldiers kill her This scene is Brecht s innovation He shows that action not words can deliver the strongest meaning The mute girl speaks to the audience through sacrifice Breaking Illusion- the Ending with the Wagon In normal tragedies the audience feels pity at the end But Brecht wanted thinking not crying Earlier Mother Courage had sung a fortune-telling song with slips of paper She said So shall we all be torn asunder if we let ourselves get too deep into this war That warning becomes true Now she pulls her wagon alone This ending is not emotional closure It is open It makes the audience ask Why does she continue Why does war never stop This breaking of illusion is Brecht s greatest innovation Bertolt Brecht was truly an innovative playwright In Mother Courage and Her Children he used songs to teach contradictions to reveal weakness irony to expose war silence to create a message and an open ending to break the illusion He wanted the audience to think not to cry His new epic theatre changed modern drama This play proves Brecht to be one of the greatest innovators