How we cite our quotes: (Scene, Line numbers)
Quote #10
Here you can see respectable folk
Keeping to God's own laws.
So far he hasn't taken heed.
You who sit safe and warm indoors
Help to relieve our bitter need!
How virtuously we had begun!
The world however didn't wait
But soon observed what followed on.
It's fear of God that brought us to that state.
How fortunate the man with none! (IX, 151-160)
"Keeping to God's own laws"? Maybe in a different play. In any case, this verse, in the song shared by Mother Courage and the cook, is basically a shared apotheosis in their cynical attitudes toward traditional Christian values. The song portrays its singers as poor believers, who have always kept to "God's own laws." But they've come upon hard times. The message: a belief in God doesn't get you anywhere in the present state of the things. So, it seems like people would be better off without it.