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The Chaplain
The Cook is an opportunistic, womanizing, pipe-smoking Dutchman who works for the Swedish Commander as a private chef in the second and third scenes. Like Mother Courage, his primary interest is profiting off the war. He also has a salacious backstory with Yvette Pottier, whom he once seduced and then cheated on, and who knows him as “Peter Piper.” (She confronts him when they reunite in the eighth scene.) He has difficult relationships with both the Chaplain, who drinks with him but also knows that he is an immoral letch, and Mother Courage, who price-gouges him over a capon in the second scene but is delighted to see him in the eighth scene (even though he has only visited her in search of alcohol). He follows Mother Courage through Bavaria in the ninth scene, then decides to return to Utrecht to run his late mother’s inn and invites her (but not Kattrin). Mother Courage and Kattrin leave him behind, and his fate is left uncertain at the end of the play.
The Cook Quotes in Mother Courage and Her Children
The Mother Courage and Her Children quotes below are all either spoken by The Cook or refer to The Cook. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Scene 2
Quotes
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!
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Scene 3
Quotes
CHAPLAIN. My dear Cook, you talk as if dying for one’s beliefs were a misfortune—it is the highest privilege! This is not just any war, remember, it is a religious war, and therefore pleasing unto God.
COOK. I see that. In one sense it’s a war because of all the cheating, plunder, rape, and so forth, but it’s different from all other wars because it’s a religious war and therefore pleasing unto God. At that it does make you thirsty.
MOTHER COURAGE. I must get you two something to drink, or you’ll be making improper advances out of sheer boredom.
CHAPLAIN. That is indeed a temptation—said the Court Chaplain as he gave way to it. And who is this captivating young person?
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COOK. And King Gustavus liberated Poland from the Germans. Who could deny it? Then his appetite grew with eating, and he liberated Germany from the Germans. Made quite a profit on the deal, I’m told.
CHAPLAIN. That is a calumny! The Swedish king puts religion first!
MOTHER COURAGE. What’s more, you eat his bread.
COOK. I don’t eat his bread: I bake his bread.
MOTHER COURAGE. He’ll never be conquered, that man, and you know why? We all back him up—the little fellows like you and me. Oh yes, to hear the big fellows talk, they ‘re fighting for their beliefs and so on, but if you look into it, you find they’re not that silly: they do want to make a profit on the deal. So you and I back them up!
Scene 9
Quotes
MOTHER COURAGE. Kattrin! Where do you think you’re going? (She examines the bundle.) Ah! So you were listening ? I told him: nothing doing—he can have his lousy inn. (Now she sees the skirt and pants.) Oh, you stupid girl! Now what if I’d seen that, and you’d been gone! (KATTRIN tries to leave. Her mother holds her.) And don’t imagine I sent him packing on your account. It was the wagon. They can’t part me from my wagon. Now we’ll put the cook’s things here where he’ll find ’em, that silly man. You and I are leaving. (She climbs upon the wagon and throws the rest of the COOK’s few things down on to the pants.) There! He’s fired! The last man I’ll ever take into this business! Get into harness, Kattrin. This winter will pass like all the others.
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The Cook Quotes in Mother Courage and Her Children
The Mother Courage and Her Children quotes below are all either spoken by The Cook or refer to The Cook. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Scene 2
Quotes
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!
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Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Scene 3
Quotes
CHAPLAIN. My dear Cook, you talk as if dying for one’s beliefs were a misfortune—it is the highest privilege! This is not just any war, remember, it is a religious war, and therefore pleasing unto God.
COOK. I see that. In one sense it’s a war because of all the cheating, plunder, rape, and so forth, but it’s different from all other wars because it’s a religious war and therefore pleasing unto God. At that it does make you thirsty.
MOTHER COURAGE. I must get you two something to drink, or you’ll be making improper advances out of sheer boredom.
CHAPLAIN. That is indeed a temptation—said the Court Chaplain as he gave way to it. And who is this captivating young person?
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COOK. And King Gustavus liberated Poland from the Germans. Who could deny it? Then his appetite grew with eating, and he liberated Germany from the Germans. Made quite a profit on the deal, I’m told.
CHAPLAIN. That is a calumny! The Swedish king puts religion first!
MOTHER COURAGE. What’s more, you eat his bread.
COOK. I don’t eat his bread: I bake his bread.
MOTHER COURAGE. He’ll never be conquered, that man, and you know why? We all back him up—the little fellows like you and me. Oh yes, to hear the big fellows talk, they ‘re fighting for their beliefs and so on, but if you look into it, you find they’re not that silly: they do want to make a profit on the deal. So you and I back them up!
Scene 9
Quotes
MOTHER COURAGE. Kattrin! Where do you think you’re going? (She examines the bundle.) Ah! So you were listening ? I told him: nothing doing—he can have his lousy inn. (Now she sees the skirt and pants.) Oh, you stupid girl! Now what if I’d seen that, and you’d been gone! (KATTRIN tries to leave. Her mother holds her.) And don’t imagine I sent him packing on your account. It was the wagon. They can’t part me from my wagon. Now we’ll put the cook’s things here where he’ll find ’em, that silly man. You and I are leaving. (She climbs upon the wagon and throws the rest of the COOK’s few things down on to the pants.) There! He’s fired! The last man I’ll ever take into this business! Get into harness, Kattrin. This winter will pass like all the others.
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