Scene by Scene Synopsis It is the Spring of 1624 and Mother
Courage, a canteen woman who sells the goods from her cart to
make a living with her family, comes into contact with the
Recruiting Officer and the Sergeant. They have just been
discussing how hard it is to find a decent man to join the army
and how society functions better during a war as 'you got your
shoes all stacked, your corn in bags, young men lined up - all
there for the taking. This is the story of today - no war,
nothin to live for'. Then along comes Mother Courage. The
Sergeant stops her and asks for her 'papers', her proof of
identity, and so begins a long discussion about how each of her
children were named, and why they all have different fathers.
The recruiting officer and the sergeant then set about trying to
get Eiliff to sign up as a soldier. Mother Courage performs a
bit of fortune telling, but the results are not in her favour as
all of her children draw out a black cross for death. To get
Mother Courage away from her son the Serg