Mother Courage and Her Children

by

Bertolt Brecht

The Lieutenant Character Analysis

In the penultimate scene, the Lieutenant leads the group of soldiers who terrorize the peasant family (Old Peasant, Old Peasant Woman, and Young Peasant) on their way to attack the town of Halle. He murders the Young Peasant and Kattrin, who warns the townspeople of the pending attack with her drum. His penchant for senseless violence reflects the cruelty of the war as a whole.

The Lieutenant Quotes in Mother Courage and Her Children

The Mother Courage and Her Children quotes below are all either spoken by The Lieutenant or refer to The Lieutenant. 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:
War, Failure, and Despair Theme Icon
).
Scene 11 Quotes

LIEUTENANT (pointing to the wagon on which KATTRIN has appeared). There’s another. (A SOLDIER pulls her out.) Is this everybody?

OLD PEASANT. That’s our son.

PEASANT WOMAN. And that’s a girl that can’t talk. Her mother’s in town buying up stocks because the shopkeepers are running away and selling cheap.

OLD PEASANT. They’re canteen people.

Related Characters: The Lieutenant (speaker), Old Peasant (speaker), Old Peasant Woman (speaker), Mother Courage, Kattrin
Related Symbols: The Wagon
Page Number: 103
Explanation and Analysis:

(The soldiers arrive with the gun.)

LIEUTENANT. Set it up! (Calling while the gun is set up on forks:) Once and for all, stop that drumming! (Still crying, KATTRIN is drumming as hard as she can.) Fire!

(The soldiers fire. KATTRIN is hit. She gives the drum another feeble beat or two, then collapses.)

LIEUTENANT. So that ends the noise.

(But the last beats of the drum are lost in the din of cannon from the town. Mingled with the thunder of cannon, alarm-bells are heard in the distance.)

FIRST SOLDIER. She made it.

Related Characters: The Lieutenant (speaker), Kattrin
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis:
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The Lieutenant Quotes in Mother Courage and Her Children

The Mother Courage and Her Children quotes below are all either spoken by The Lieutenant or refer to The Lieutenant. 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:
War, Failure, and Despair Theme Icon
).
Scene 11 Quotes

LIEUTENANT (pointing to the wagon on which KATTRIN has appeared). There’s another. (A SOLDIER pulls her out.) Is this everybody?

OLD PEASANT. That’s our son.

PEASANT WOMAN. And that’s a girl that can’t talk. Her mother’s in town buying up stocks because the shopkeepers are running away and selling cheap.

OLD PEASANT. They’re canteen people.

Related Characters: The Lieutenant (speaker), Old Peasant (speaker), Old Peasant Woman (speaker), Mother Courage, Kattrin
Related Symbols: The Wagon
Page Number: 103
Explanation and Analysis:

(The soldiers arrive with the gun.)

LIEUTENANT. Set it up! (Calling while the gun is set up on forks:) Once and for all, stop that drumming! (Still crying, KATTRIN is drumming as hard as she can.) Fire!

(The soldiers fire. KATTRIN is hit. She gives the drum another feeble beat or two, then collapses.)

LIEUTENANT. So that ends the noise.

(But the last beats of the drum are lost in the din of cannon from the town. Mingled with the thunder of cannon, alarm-bells are heard in the distance.)

FIRST SOLDIER. She made it.

Related Characters: The Lieutenant (speaker), Kattrin
Page Number: 109
Explanation and Analysis: