Eilif Character Analysis

HERE’S MOTHER COURAGE AND HER WAGON!
HEY, CAPTAIN, LET THEM COME AND BUY!
BEER BY THE KEG! WINE BY THE FLAGON!
LET YOUR MEN DRINK BEFORE THEY DIE!
SABERS AND SWORDS ARE HARD TO SWALLOW:
FIRST YOU MUST GIVE THEM BEER TO DRINK.
THEN THEY CAN FACE WHAT IS TO FOLLOW—
BUT LET ‘EM SWIM BEFORE THEY SINK!

CHRISTIANS, AWAKE! THE WINTER’S GONE!
THE SNOWS DEPART, THE DEAD SLEEP ON.
AND THOUGH YOU MAY NOT LONG SURVIVE,
GET OUT OF BED AND LOOK ALIVE!

YOUR MEN WILL MARCH TILL THEY ARE DEAD, SIR,
BUT CANNOT FIGHT UNLESS THEY EAT.
THE BLOOD THEY SPILL FOR YOU IS RED, SIR,
WHAT FIRES THAT BLOOD IS MY RED MEAT.
FOR MEAT AND SOUP AND JAM AND JELLY
IN THIS OLD CART OF MINE ARE FOUND:
SO FILL THE HOLE UP IN YOUR BELLY
BEFORE YOU FILL ONE UNDERGROUND.

(She draws a knife.) Yes, just you try, and I’ll cut you down like dogs! We sell cloth, we sell ham, we are peaceful people!

Well, there’s yours, Eilif, my boy! (As EILIF takes the slip, she snatches it and holds it up.) See? A cross!

[…]

Take yours, Swiss Cheese. You should be a better bet—you’re my good boy. (SWISS CHEESE draws.) Don’t tell me it’s a cross? Is there no saving you either? Just look, Sergeant—a black cross!

[…]

(to KATTRIN) Now all I have left is you. You’re a cross in yourself but you have a kind heart. (She holds the helmet up but takes the slip herself.) Oh dear, there must be some mistake! Don’t be too kind, Kattrin, don’t be too kind—there’s a black cross in your path! So now you all know: be careful! Be very careful! (MOTHER COURAGE climbs on her wagon preparing to leave.)

MOTHER COURAGE. My eldest. It’s two years since I saw him. He must be high in favor—the Commander inviting him to dinner! And what do you have to eat? Nothing. The Commander’s guest wants meat! Take my advice: buy the capon. The price is one hundred hellers.

(The COMMANDER has sat down with EILIF and the CHAPLAIN.)

COMMANDER. (roaring) Dinner, you pig! Or I’ll have your head!

COOK. This is blackmail. Give me the damn thing!

EILIF. I laughed. And so we got to talking. I came right down to business and said: “Twenty guilders an ox is too much, I bid fifteen.” Like I wanted to buy. That foxed ’em. So while they were scratching their heads. I reached for my good sword and cut ’em to ribbons. Necessity knows no law, huh?

COMMANDER. What do you say, keeper of souls?

CHAPLAIN. Strictly speaking, that saying is not in the Bible. Our Lord made five hundred loaves out of five so that no necessity should arise. So when he told men to love their neighbors, their bellies were full. Things have changed since his day.

COMMANDER. (laughing) Things have changed!

She’s finished. How would she ever get a husband now? And she’s crazy for children. Even her dumbness comes from the war. A soldier stuck something in her mouth when she was little. I’ll never see Swiss Cheese again, and where my Eilif is the Good Lord knows. Curse the war!

CHAPLAIN. What has he done?

SOLDIER. He broke in on a peasant. The wife is dead.

CHAPLAIN. Eilif, how could you?

EILIF. It’s no different. It’s what I did before.

COOK. That was in wartime.

EILIF. Shut your mouth. Can I sit down till she comes?

SOLDIER. No.

CHAPLAIN. It’s true. In wartime they honored him for it. He sat at the Commander’s right hand. It was bravery.

LULLAY, LULLAY, WHAT’S THAT IN THE HAY?
THE NEIGHBOR’S KIDS CRY BUT MINE ARE GAY.
THE NEIGHBOR’S KIDS ARE DRESSED IN DIRT:
YOUR SILKS WERE CUT FROM AN ANGEL’S SKIRT.
THEY ARE ALL STARVING. YOU HAVE A CAKE
IF IT’S TOO STALE, YOU NEED BUT SPEAK.
LULLAY, LULLAY, WHAT’S RUSTLING THERE?
ONE LAD FELL IN POLAND. THE OTHER IS—WHERE?

OLD PEASANT. Have you no one left?

MOTHER COURAGE. Yes, my son Eilif.

OLD PEASANT. Find him then, leave her to us.

PEASANT WOMAN. We’ll give her a proper burial, you needn’t worry.

MOTHER COURAGE. Here’s a little money for the expenses. (She harnesses herself to the wagon.) I hope I can pull the wagon by myself. Yes, I’ll manage. There’s not much in it now. (The last regiment is heard passing.) Hey! Take me with you!

HERE’S MOTHER COURAGE AND HER WAGON!
HEY, CAPTAIN, LET THEM COME AND BUY!
BEER BY THE KEG! WINE BY THE FLAGON!
LET YOUR MEN DRINK BEFORE THEY DIE!
SABERS AND SWORDS ARE HARD TO SWALLOW:
FIRST YOU MUST GIVE THEM BEER TO DRINK.
THEN THEY CAN FACE WHAT IS TO FOLLOW—
BUT LET ‘EM SWIM BEFORE THEY SINK!

CHRISTIANS, AWAKE! THE WINTER’S GONE!
THE SNOWS DEPART, THE DEAD SLEEP ON.
AND THOUGH YOU MAY NOT LONG SURVIVE,
GET OUT OF BED AND LOOK ALIVE!

YOUR MEN WILL MARCH TILL THEY ARE DEAD, SIR,
BUT CANNOT FIGHT UNLESS THEY EAT.
THE BLOOD THEY SPILL FOR YOU IS RED, SIR,
WHAT FIRES THAT BLOOD IS MY RED MEAT.
FOR MEAT AND SOUP AND JAM AND JELLY
IN THIS OLD CART OF MINE ARE FOUND:
SO FILL THE HOLE UP IN YOUR BELLY
BEFORE YOU FILL ONE UNDERGROUND.

(She draws a knife.) Yes, just you try, and I’ll cut you down like dogs! We sell cloth, we sell ham, we are peaceful people!

Well, there’s yours, Eilif, my boy! (As EILIF takes the slip, she snatches it and holds it up.) See? A cross!

[…]

Take yours, Swiss Cheese. You should be a better bet—you’re my good boy. (SWISS CHEESE draws.) Don’t tell me it’s a cross? Is there no saving you either? Just look, Sergeant—a black cross!

[…]

(to KATTRIN) Now all I have left is you. You’re a cross in yourself but you have a kind heart. (She holds the helmet up but takes the slip herself.) Oh dear, there must be some mistake! Don’t be too kind, Kattrin, don’t be too kind—there’s a black cross in your path! So now you all know: be careful! Be very careful! (MOTHER COURAGE climbs on her wagon preparing to leave.)

MOTHER COURAGE. My eldest. It’s two years since I saw him. He must be high in favor—the Commander inviting him to dinner! And what do you have to eat? Nothing. The Commander’s guest wants meat! Take my advice: buy the capon. The price is one hundred hellers.

(The COMMANDER has sat down with EILIF and the CHAPLAIN.)

COMMANDER. (roaring) Dinner, you pig! Or I’ll have your head!

COOK. This is blackmail. Give me the damn thing!

EILIF. I laughed. And so we got to talking. I came right down to business and said: “Twenty guilders an ox is too much, I bid fifteen.” Like I wanted to buy. That foxed ’em. So while they were scratching their heads. I reached for my good sword and cut ’em to ribbons. Necessity knows no law, huh?

COMMANDER. What do you say, keeper of souls?

CHAPLAIN. Strictly speaking, that saying is not in the Bible. Our Lord made five hundred loaves out of five so that no necessity should arise. So when he told men to love their neighbors, their bellies were full. Things have changed since his day.

COMMANDER. (laughing) Things have changed!

She’s finished. How would she ever get a husband now? And she’s crazy for children. Even her dumbness comes from the war. A soldier stuck something in her mouth when she was little. I’ll never see Swiss Cheese again, and where my Eilif is the Good Lord knows. Curse the war!

CHAPLAIN. What has he done?

SOLDIER. He broke in on a peasant. The wife is dead.

CHAPLAIN. Eilif, how could you?

EILIF. It’s no different. It’s what I did before.

COOK. That was in wartime.

EILIF. Shut your mouth. Can I sit down till she comes?

SOLDIER. No.

CHAPLAIN. It’s true. In wartime they honored him for it. He sat at the Commander’s right hand. It was bravery.

LULLAY, LULLAY, WHAT’S THAT IN THE HAY?
THE NEIGHBOR’S KIDS CRY BUT MINE ARE GAY.
THE NEIGHBOR’S KIDS ARE DRESSED IN DIRT:
YOUR SILKS WERE CUT FROM AN ANGEL’S SKIRT.
THEY ARE ALL STARVING. YOU HAVE A CAKE
IF IT’S TOO STALE, YOU NEED BUT SPEAK.
LULLAY, LULLAY, WHAT’S RUSTLING THERE?
ONE LAD FELL IN POLAND. THE OTHER IS—WHERE?

OLD PEASANT. Have you no one left?

MOTHER COURAGE. Yes, my son Eilif.

OLD PEASANT. Find him then, leave her to us.

PEASANT WOMAN. We’ll give her a proper burial, you needn’t worry.

MOTHER COURAGE. Here’s a little money for the expenses. (She harnesses herself to the wagon.) I hope I can pull the wagon by myself. Yes, I’ll manage. There’s not much in it now. (The last regiment is heard passing.) Hey! Take me with you!