How we cite our quotes: (Scene, Line numbers)
Quote #10
MOTHER COURAGE: I won't have you folk spoiling my war for me. I'm told it kills off the weak, but they're write-off in peacetime too. And war gives its people a better deal.
She sings:And if you feel your forces fading
You won't be there to share the fruits.
But what is war but private trading
That deals in blood instead of boots?[…] (VII, 5-12)
Mother Courage hits the height of her career, and she won't let anyone tell her any different. She's done hating on war. But her words definitely sound more chilling than before: war is "private trading / that deals in blood instead of boots." Does Mother Courage acknowledge that she has to accept the loss of her children as a consequence of living off the war?